With their ER regularly shuttered, Baie Verte residents rally to demand better health care
Residents fear effect on the region if hospital were to close altogether
Residents on the Baie Verte Peninsula came together Tuesday to call on the provincial government to protect the future of its hospital.
The Baie Verte Peninsula Health Centre, which covers 23 communities across the region, has faced a staffing shortage since late 2021.
Protesters at Tuesday's demonstration — attended by more than 200 people — claimed the hospital has been without a doctor since April, which CBC News has asked Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services to confirm.
"I'm rarely sick, but I'm not here for me. I'm here 'cause the system needs to be changed. What we have here now needs to be rectified. We all deserve adequate and reliable health care," demonstrator Chris Mitchell told the crowd Tuesday.
"If that hospital's gone, we got 23 ghost towns."
Millie Walsh travelled from Fleur de Lys, 25 kilometres away, to be part of the protest. She said the state of the hospital is an insult to the people of the region.
"There's so much talk in government about tourism, tourism development. And I'm all about that too, but I can tell you right now that this is the priority: having health care provided to a level of quality that we rightfully deserve as Canadians," Walsh said.
"I know there's a lot of people around us who need it, who need health care, who need it 24/7, so let's fight and continue to restore what we once had. At least give us a doctor that we need."
Jennifer Cramm, who lives near the Baie Verte Peninsula Health Centre, said the hospital was closed for 26½ out of 35 days between May 5 and June 8. The hospital was also closed for 60 days in 2022, which represents over 16 per cent of the year.
Her son recently had a severe allergic reaction and was rushed to the hospital recently. She fears what could have happened if the hospital was closed.
"When seconds count, and there's a fully capable hospital a minute away from my home, I should not have worry, 'Will my son survive the 177 kilometres to Grand Falls-Windsor?'" Cramm said.
"A stroke patient will not survive that wait. A patient having a massive heart attack will not survive the wait."
We're not only going to have no hospital, we will have no paramedics.- Paul Toms
Paul Toms, manager of the ambulance service in La Scie, said the ER closures have left ambulances in his area in diversion mode — unable to take patients to the Baie Verte ER, La Scie ambulances are forced to travel farther, increasing the amount of time they're unavailable for incoming calls.
The number of calls has also risen dramatically, he said. What was once 50 calls a year is now more than 260 — and Toms says that number will be higher this year.
Toms said his staff of four are burned out, Toms says. He fears the lack of a full-time doctor at the hospital will have further consequences.
"The fix is to find a doctor and get this hospital back working. Without that, we're not only gonna have no hospital, we will have no paramedics," he said.
"If we lose paramedics too, I fear, I don't know. I haven't went down that road yet."
With files from Troy Turner