'People are very frightened:' Bell Island, N.L., is about to lose its last remaining doctor
CTV
Bell Island in Newfoundland and Labrador is set to lose its only doctor come December, meaning residents will have to take a ferry trip to St. John's for medical care.
Named for the large bell-shaped rock off its west end, the island in Conception Bay, five kilometres off the Avalon Peninsula, was one of the world’s major iron-ore producers from 1895 to 1966.
The 34-square kilometre island is home to approximately 2,500 people, and the island’s pharmacist Kara O’Keefe, says there are limited options for Bell Islanders if they have a medical emergency.
“Right now on Bell Island we have a community health centre, we have a small community hospital where we have an emergency room and we have access to a physician for 24 hours, however, of course without a physician we can’t have an emergency room,” O’Keefe said on CTV’s Your Morning Thursday. “So unfortunately what would have to happen is that patient be transported on an ambulance on the ferry from Bell Island to Portugal Cove and then on to a larger hospital in our capital of St John’s.”
O’Keefe said the loss of the doctor is hitting residents hard. The only other two doctors on the Island retired last month.
