After spending the long weekend in an understaffed, often closed, emergency room, the Doctors of BC president reiterates calls for more staff in rural hospitals.
dr Joshua Greggain, who practices in Hope, BC, traveled to Port Hardy on north Vancouver Island last week to help with staffing shortages and to observe how the hospital is dealing with it.
“As a rural GP there are many things I can do and one of them is helping out in places that are a bit understaffed or could use more doctors and nurses,” he said All points west Host Jason D’Souza.
Last month, the province announced that the emergency room at Port Hardy Hospital would be open from 7am to 5pm due to the ongoing staff shortage and would close overnight. Residents were told they would need to travel to Port McNeil after hours for emergency medical care.
X-ray services were not available on Sunday, Greggain said – making emergency care for injuries and respiratory illnesses difficult.
Doctors and leaders are calling for more support in the community of 3,400 – and in rural communities across the province.
dr Alex Nataros, who was recently suspended from working in Port Hardy’s ER after Island Health received complaints about the quality of its care, has suggested BC approve the use of physician assistants.
Physician assistants work under a physician to perform many of their duties, such as: B. conducting patient interviews and examinations, assisting with operations and writing prescriptions under the doctor’s name to relieve doctors somewhat.
The province has announced that it is working to add more places to UBC’s medical program and to open a new medical school at SFU, increase the number of residencies for international medical graduates at UBC, and provide additional funding to educate physicians to help the country deal with rising living and labor costs in rural communities under the new framework doctor contract.
The province has allocated $30 million to improve healthcare on northern Vancouver Island, to be used for things like housing workers who are willing to travel to work and transporting patients between hospitals.
But Greggain said the community and many others in the province need more staff.
“[Money] It’s always one of those items that is helpful, but only more people helping to staff the ER to staff the clinic.
“I think there are a lot of places in this province that continue to struggle with recruitment and retention, not just for doctors, but for nurses and lab technicians.”
He suggests that other doctors on Vancouver Island travel to Port Hardy every now and then for short-term help.
“I think there’s a huge opportunity for us together…which means people both lend a hand and create a team environment where trust is the foundation, where good care is given and together we can build a system that can do a lot.” brings meaning to the local people who really understand that we want to put our energy into it.”
