Dire shortages leave Melita residents with no ER services for the summer
Residents in a southern Manitoba town are asking questions as to why they are facing a summer with no emergency room.
Nearly 200 residents of Melita packed the Legion Memorial Hall Tuesday to ask questions and learn more about why their emergency services would be shut down for the remainder of the summer.
The main reason for the shut down, according to Prairie Mountain Health CEO Brian Schoonbaert, is that there are dire shortages elsewhere.
“We could have, in Melita over the summer, continued previous services,” Schoonbaert says. “But what happened is that we have significant shortages in our [personal care homes] particularly in Reston and Deloraine.”
For the month of July, there are 35 unfilled shifts in Reston and 20 in Deloraine.
The shortages are the reason behind what Schoonbaert calls “drastic steps,” including utilizing a clause in the Manitoba Nurses Union contract that allows them to move nurses up to 50 km to work where they’re most needed.
In the case of nurses in Melita, they will be moved to cover the shortages in Reston (44 km) and Deloraine (43 km).
“They’ll be paid for their driving time, their mileage, and they’ll even get a stipend above their normal salary for the reassignment,” Schoonbaert says.
The concern Melita Mayor Bill Holden says he’s heard most from residents is that the ER will stay closed, but he’s highly optimistic it will reopen in the fall.
“We are committed to work with Prairie Mountain Health and the surrounding RMs to make sure that we do our best to make sure this facility opens up again in the fall,” Holden says.
Residents were able to voice their concerns and frustrations, as well as ask questions during the meeting. Some of the topics brought up by residents were consideration for scholarships for local students to keep them in the area, the status of ambulance services, and the number of health care workers overall.
Schoonbaert says he appreciates the opportunity to better explain the situation directly to the residents.
“It’s not going to be easy for us, but really they don’t have the staffing issue per se, it was the neighbouring communities,” he says. “So that’s why it’s more readily available that I can say that things are going to be okay for them come September.”
In a statement to CTV News, the Manitoba Nurses Union says that closing Melita’s ER impacts the town and surrounding areas where patients are forced to travel. It also puts additional strain on other units and facilities.
Clinic and lab services in Melita will continue to be available, and public health and home care services will operate as usual.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.