As Eastern Health ER closures continue, mayors lament health-care 'nightmare'

As the Newfoundland and Labrador government scrambles to fill shortages of health-care professionals across the province, three emergency rooms in Eastern Health have had trouble just staying open.

Since July 1, according to press releases from Eastern Health, the emergency room in Bonavista has had just over a week of closures, while the emergency room in St. Lawrence has had more than two weeks of closures. The emergency room in Whitbourne has been closed since June and is scheduled to remain closed until at least Monday.

Altogether, the three emergency rooms have been scheduled for 79 days of closures since July 1.

Bonavista Mayor John Norman said the uncertainty surrounding emergency services and acute care at the Bonavista Peninsula Health Centre, which serves about 8,000 residents, has been an "ongoing nightmare."

"It's very unfortunate because we've lost, of course, continuity of care over the past two years. Even if we do have ER coverage, it's basically a new doctor every day or two," Norman told CBC News on Wednesday.

Since the last emergency room closure ended on Aug. 3, Norman said, Eastern Health has managed to re-establish chemotherapy, dialysis, acute care and emergency services at the Bonavista hospital. However, he's wondering how long the regional health authority will be able to use temporary doctors — locums — to cover off services.

"How many of those locums that are covering days now in August are going to say, 'Yes, I will return and do future call shifts in October, November, December'?" he asked.

When the emergency room is open, Norman said, it's often inundated with patients who have come to the hospital out of desperation because they can't access a family physician or nurse practitioner.

The province has made some strides toward physician recruitment; most recently, Premier Andrew Furey announced five new spots in the Memorial University family medicine program for Canadian graduates of international medical programs. 

Bonavista is about 110 kilometres, an hour and a half drive, from the nearest emergency room, in Clarenville. Norman said the wait could be even longer if there are no ambulances available.

"Yes, this is a problem across the province," he said. "But there are not many places that have over 8,000 people that are over an hour away from the next nearest hospital that are seeing no emergency services."

Jade Way, a small business owner in Bonavista, is part of a cohort of residents protesting the emergency room closures. When the emergency room closed for the first time, she said, residents panicked.

"People thought we were losing our hospital," she said.

The hospital isn't closing, but Way said residents are also concerned the emergency room closures could deter potential tourists.