Kashechewan First Nation health system only treating emergencies amid nurse shortage

 A remote First Nation in northern Ontario is limiting health services to emergencies only due to a lack of nurses in what the community's health director is calling a dire situation for residents' and nurses' well-being.

Kashechewan First Nation said its nursing station, which provides health services for residents in the community of 1,900 people, has dropped to three primary care nurses this week, down from its usual nine.

That's left the community's health-care system in crisis, said health director Jonathan Solomon, with services like blood work, prenatal care and walk-in appointments not being offered.

"It's a very dire situation, when you when you look at how this is impacting the well-being of our people," Solomon said in a telephone interview.

Kashechewan's nursing station is staffed by rotation, with nurses arriving every two weeks. Solomon said fewer nurses have been arriving over the last six week as Canada's health system contends with a shortage of staff driven by pandemic-related burnout and other factors.

Solomon said he's also concerned about the well-being of the few nurses currently working on the ground who are being stretched thin by the workload.

Hospitals elsewhere in Ontario have been forced to temporarily close emergency rooms over the summer due to nurse shortages and have sent patients to other hospitals during those periods. But Solomon noted that Kashechewan residents don't have that option because the community is only accessible by plane.

"Remote communities, we're impacted major time because we don't have the privilege to drive to another health centre because we're isolated, we're remote," he said. "Our health care is in crisis at this moment because of that."

Solomon said community leaders had a meeting with Indigenous Services Canada, which staffs the nursing station, on Friday morning to discuss solutions, and he's hopeful some relief could come next week.

However, he noted that solutions to such problems can often be slowed down by the bureaucratic processes.

Community leadership in Kashechewan has also calling for a nurse recruitment plan from Indigenous Services Canada, and a plan for the possibility that the community could have zero nurses on the ground soon.

Indigenous Services Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Solomon said conversations must be had in the wake of COVID-19's impact on health-care services about how things can be done differently.

"I think we have to start thinking outside the box," he said. "How do we improve what's there? We know it's not working the way it's supposed to work."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 26, 2022.