SHA to open 5 new beds at Kamsack Hospital in November, but inpatient services to remain on hold

The Kamsack Hospital in Kamsack, Sask., will have a few more beds available starting in November, but will continue operating without inpatient and some emergency services, as it has since July due to staffing shortages.

Kamsack is about 350 kilometres east of Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) says it's planning to open four alternate level of care (ALC) beds and one palliative care bed in November. An ALC bed is for someone who would otherwise occupy an acute care hospital bed but is not acutely ill or does not require the intensity of resources or services provided in a hospital setting, according to the SHA.

The SHA told CBC News in an email statement on Monday that the new beds are contingent upon staffing levels and outbreak management "in order to maintain safe and sustainable operation of those beds."

"Our goal remains to restore and stabilize services at the Kamsack Hospital as soon as human resource challenges can be adequately addressed," the SHA said.

Inpatient and some emergency services at the Kamsack Hospital have been on hold since July 13. The emergency department at the hospital is only open Monday to Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. CST and Thursday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST.

Beyond that, residents have to travel to Canora or more distant towns like Yorkton, Wadena or Kelvington for service.

The announcement of the loss of services caused a stir in Kamsack that boiled over into the area outside the hospital on the morning of July 14, as provincial politicians spoke with residents rallying for a government response.

"Similar to other locations provincially and nationally, staffing levels remain challenging so the SHA continues to work with many partners to recruit health professionals in many different disciplines to achieve sustainable care," the SHA said on Monday. 

This year the Saskatchewan government announced the Health Human Resources Action Plan, which it says will help address the staffing challenges that Kamsack and other communities across Saskatchewan are currently facing.

As part of this action plan, the SHA hopes to recruit permanent, full-time nursing staff from the Philippines. New targeted incentives will also assist the SHA with recruitment from within Saskatchewan.

On Monday, Premier Scott Moe commented on the recruitment plan after speaking at a Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

"What you're going to see this fall is really the delivery of that plan. You're going to see people actually coming into the positions. It's one thing to have a plan, it's the second thing to actually fund that plan, and I would say the the third thing and most important is that you actually deliver on that plan," Moe told reporters. 

Moe says Saskatchewan residents will soon see medical professionals from other areas of the world coming into health-care facilities and offering services alongside Saskatchewan health-care workers in both rural and urban communities. 

"This is not a a challenge that is exclusive to Saskatchewan. I talked to my colleagues across the nation. This is most certainly a challenge in province after province right across Canada," said Moe. 

How Kamsack is doing

Betty Dix, co-organizer of the summer rally in Kamsack and a former mayor of the town, told CBC on Monday that the closing of the hospital was terrible for the community.

"We've had our fingers crossed all summer that we didn't have an emergency because we had no beds open," Dix said. 

She says she's saddened that the hospital's service disruption is still not ending at the end of October. 

"I feel devastated like the rest of the community. We completely do not understand why a community like this, that serves hundreds of thousands of people, cannot get nurses and doctors here."

Dix says Kamsack is losing a doctor in November, but gaining another within the next two weeks, and another doctor in November. 

Meanwhile Audrey Horkoff, chair of the Assiniboine Valley Health and Wellness Foundation, says the foundation recruits doctors along with the SHA and works closely with the hospital.

"We've all been working together as a team to try to get everything back up and running," Horkoff said. 

She says the SHA has done quite a bit of work at securing nurses for the hospital.

"But at this point in time, we can't support full service yet."

Horkoff says the new four beds and palliative care is the first step in getting things back on track.

"Our biggest shortfall is within X-ray and lab technicians. We're understaffed severely there, so just haven't got 24/7 coverage by any means."

Horkoff says that when operational, the hospital is extremely busy, has a busy emergency room and is very important to residents in that district.

"It's been difficult as you can imagine, because we've had to access emergency services in Canora and Yorkton quite often. It's put an awful lot of stress on our EMS team, because they're transferring patients all around to try to find beds for them and have lab work done and that type of thing," Horkoff said.

She says people have adjusted to the lack of service and for the most part have been accommodated.

"It's the best situation you can hope for under the circumstances. This isn't a unique situation. We're struggling with the hospital personnel right across the province and for that matter across Canada."

The hospital covers the population of Kamsack, Duck Mountain Provincial Park, three First Nations to the north and the rural area. Horkoff says the hospital services about 10,000 people.