There appears to have been a large and possibly record-setting number of temporary ER closures or service interruptions across the country in 2023 so far, with CTV News finding hundreds instances where a hospital emergency unit, usually in a rural community, has been shut down for hours or days to Canadians seeking emergency care.
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“Clearly, nobody’s taking this seriously enough… These kinds of closures mean that government has failed to meet their end of the social contract for Canadians in terms of providing them assured access to quality emergency care,” said Drummond.
His closest emergency unit is in Chesley, run by the South Grey Bruce Health Centre, where he gets medical care and prescriptions renewed.
When your ER closes and patients can’t access care, the possibility of a poor outcome or something being missed, it goes up significantly," said Savage.
Experts told CTV they predict continuing ER closures because finding people to work there is the key problem, with Savage noting a large percentage are related to the nursing shortage.
Health is one of the biggest services provided by provincial and federal governments, and agencies were warned there was a looming shortage because of a growing and aging population, long before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her team is also boosting training, using simulators to keep rural health workers’ skills up to date, and looking at putting doctors and nurses on the road.
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