Saint John doctor shortage forces weekend closure of Sussex ER
A doctor shortage at the Saint John Regional Hospital forced the Sussex Health Centre to close its emergency room over the weekend, and that is prompting anger from the town's mayor.
'This community needs that ER to be open at all times. We accepted closures in the past because we couldn't get doctors to fill the spots, but to hear that Saint John couldn't fill their spots and then we have to close our ER is very disturbing to me and our residents.' — Ralph Carr, Sussex mayor
Doctors weren't able to staff the overnight weekend shifts at the Saint John hospital's emergency room, so the Sussex clinic had to send over its doctor to fill in.
That left the Sussex Health Centre without its emergency department during those overnight hours on Friday and Saturday.
"It's not something we would have chosen," said Dr. Brian Wheelock, the chief of staff for the Saint John zone of Regional Health Authority B.
"We would obviously have preferred to keep all the units operating as they should. But that was a choice we made because of the absolute need to have this emergency room operating properly."
The Saint John hospital ER has priority over the one in Sussex because it is a Level 1 trauma centre.
The Saint John emergency room should have 22 emergency medicine specialists on staff, but only nine positions are filled.
Sussex mayor will take complaint to Health Department
Sussex Mayor Ralph Carr isn't sympathetic to Saint John's recruitment struggles and said his community deserves emergency access too.
"This community needs that ER to be open at all times. We accepted closures in the past because we couldn't get doctors to fill the spots, but to hear that Saint John couldn't fill their spots and then we have to close our ER is very disturbing to me and our residents," Carr said.
"We could have had a senior with a heart attack and have to go to Saint John, and you know how long it takes to get to Saint John."
Sussex's mayor is taking his concerns over the emergency room closure to the provincial government.
Wheelock said he doesn't expect Saint John's emergency room doctor shortage will mean continuing closures of the Sussex emergency clinic.
The hospital has had an aggressive recruitment drive for the last few years and Wheelock said he expects that will translate into more physicians on staff in the near future.
"We do have some good leads. We do believe that we will be able to conclude agreements with a number of people over the next number of months," he said.
"But there is a period here where we are clearly short and will have to make do."