Hospital staffing shortage delays surgeries in the Sault

The waitlist for surgeries at the Sault Area Hospital is growing, and hospital officials say it’s not going to be fully addressed for months.

Hospital staff are working to ensure the most critical surgeries are prioritized, as they look to address the issue.

“We’ve had some very sad news as you may know about one of our anesthetists recently,” said hospital vice-president Sue Roger.

“It’s created some shortages in our manpower in anesthesia.”

The anesthesia department was already short of its ideal staffing levels before the sudden passing.

“We’re working now with just under five full-time equivalents in anesthesia,” she said.

“We are short three full-time people.”

Officials expect it will be four to six months before new staffing is in place and waitlists are reduced.

The NDP’s health critic, France Gélinas, said the issue has worsened as of late, affecting smaller hospitals in the north.

Gélinas expects large northern hospitals will find it more difficult to find specialists and locums.

“A lot of physicians who used to make themselves available to come to the north and do locums, are now being recruited by the for-profit to stay down in Toronto,” she said.

There is some good news at the hospital. A new cardiologist has been hired, allowing locals to now undergo transesophageal echocardiography to discover blood clots.

“We were very fortunate that he is what’s called a Level 3 echocardiographer as part of his cardiography specialty,” Roger said.

“It’s very good for the community and great to bring that care closer to home.”