ERs in 12 N.L. towns have had multiple closures this year. Here's how they add up
CBC
Twelve emergency departments run by Eastern Health and Central Health have collectively been closed or placed on diversion for more than five months so far in 2022, according to more than six months of alerts from the two regional health authorities.
Newfoundland and Labrador's four regional health authorities don't regularly release emergency room closure statistics, but they do usually publish news releases when emergency services at a health centre are temporarily closed or placed on diversion.
Information from those news releases, compiled by CBC News, shows a — in some cases, chronic — pattern of emergency room closures in eastern and central Newfoundland.
The emergency departments in Whitbourne, New-Wes-Valley, Harbour Breton, Buchans, Springdale and Baie Verte have all been closed for two weeks or more so far this year, with some scheduled to be closed this week.
Beginning on Jan. 7, the emergency room in Whitbourne was closed for nearly a month because of staffing challenges related to COVID-19. It reopened on Feb. 4, but closed three times in June. The emergency room is currently scheduled to be closed until July 18.
Emergency services at Dr. Y.K. Jeon Kittiwake Health Centre in New-Wes-Valley have been closed or put on diversion for about 29 days so far in 2022, according to Central Health.
New-Wes-Valley deputy mayor Michael Tiller, who has also been a paramedic for 20 years, told CBC News he isn't surprised to hear the number.
"Diversion is something that nobody expected to happen. You always kind of figured you were going to have a supply of doctors," he said. "I don't know why this is happening. But I do know that somebody has to come on board quickly and fix it."
Tiller said, so far, there haven't been any serious incidents while emergency services were closed or on diversion.
"I'm afraid what's going to happen when the luck runs out," Tiller said.
According to news releases from Central Health, emergency services in Baie Verte have been closed or placed on diversion for about 16 days so far this year. However, the town's mayor told CBC News that number doesn't reflect what residents have experienced for the past two years.
Rex Bowers said residents are transported to Grand Falls-Windsor almost daily because of staffing shortages at the hospital. He said sometimes there's no ambulance available at all, and residents experiencing a medical emergency have to make the two-hour drive to Grand Falls-Windsor themselves.
"It makes me angry that they're taking the life of people around here and … pretty much playing Russian roulette with the people that [live] in the area," he said.
Bowers said he worked in the hospital for more than 30 years, and he's watched services decline over time.
This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
Lac La Ronge Indian Band's Woodland Wellness Centre has received funding to start a mobile addictions outreach program to address the opioid and mental health crisis.
Adriana Avelina Ruíz Márquez uses fake eyelash glue to attach a tiny transmitter to the thorax, just behind the head, of the monarch butterfly.
After several delays to the mission that will take four astronauts around the moon, NASA held a press conference today announcing that Artemis II is on track to launch as early as April 1.
Snuneymuxw First Nation is calling for a temporary closure and environmental investigation of a hazardous waste services company following a January oil spill on Duke Point near Nanaimo, B.C.
In February, five people were killed in separate avalanches across B.C. and Alberta. That same month, more than a dozen people were killed in California and Utah, including a particularly deadly avalanche that claimed the lives of nine. In Europe, from Andorra to Slovakia, the season has recorded 125 deaths from avalanches so far.
Getting a proper vehicle to transport people for urgent medical care is an ongoing challenge in fly-in First Nations in northwestern Ontario.
A new supergroup of musicians from Six Nations of the Grand River and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation have collaborated on a Robbie Robertson-inspired song they will perform at the Junos Honouring Ceremony later this month in Hamilton.
People as young as 45 should be invited to provincial and territorial programs to screen for colorectal cancer, the Canadian Cancer Society urged on Wednesday.
The Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S) has opened an office and retail space in Ottawa to create a stronger presence in the capital since removing itself from the Métis National Council in 2024.
Toronto resident Winhan Wong's lung cancer journey began in 2016, with a nagging cough that just wouldn't go away.
Last month, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak pointed out on social media that history was made this year because there are a record 164 female chiefs serving across the country.
Most of humanity has a great propensity to think in the short-term, but generally, long-term considerations — air pollution, deforestation and emissions, for example — just aren't our thing.