Lynn Lake hospital in-patients being transferred to Flin Flon due to staffing issues

In-patients at a northern Manitoba hospital are being moved over the weekend due to persistent staffing issues that threaten patient safety, the region's health authority says.

The Northern Health Region said in a Friday memo that patients at the hospital in Lynn Lake, in the province's northwest, will be moved to the hospital in Flin Flon, more than 200 kilometres to the south — though to reach Flin Flon by road from Lynn Lake would require travelling almost 700 km.

The move is required to ensure that patients are safe and adequate resources are available to meet their needs, Northern Health said.

Under provincial regulations, a hospital cannot have in-patients if a nurse is not on site at all times, the health region's memo said.

"Ongoing staffing issues in the Lynn Lake Hospital have resulted in a situation where only minimum staffing levels were available, which resulted in an inability to maintain safe patient care," it said.

"The Northern Health Region cannot continue on a path that would jeopardize patient safety or lead to an emergent evacuation of in-patients."

The length of the move hasn't yet been determined, the memo said. It did not indicate how many patients will need to be moved.

The Lynn Lake emergency department will remain open and staffed 24 hours a day, the health region says.