Health Minister Dorothy Shephard says the closure of weekend evening and overnight ER service at the Sackville Memorial Hospital is temporary, but offered no timeline on when the services might reopen.
On June 11, the Sackville emergency department began closing at 4pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and re-opening at 8am for regular day time service.
Newly elected Sackville mayor Shawn Mesheau met with Shephard on Thursday to talk about the crisis at the hospital, which Horizon Health Network says is due to a nursing shortage.
Hear Mayor Shawn Mesheau in conversation about Thursday’s meeting:
“I received assurances from the minister that these closures are temporary,” says Mesheau. “That statement was made several times through the conversation.”
The Horizon announcement of the closures on June 10 indicates the reduced service is a temporary change to take place, “throughout the summer months.”
Mesheau did not say if Shephard offered up a timeline, but that the resumption of service, “will hinge on getting the staff in place.” Mesheau says he and Shephard talked about the “role the municipality can play in this, in order to collaborate and be part of it.”
Two New Brunswick municipalities, Sussex and St. George, currently participate in recruitment efforts alongside the health networks, says Mesheau. “Municipal staff will be following up with those municipalities to just see what type of work they’ve been doing, how much they’re budgeting,” says Mesheau.
The information town staff gather will go back to town council for consideration, he says. “It’s something that we can talk about as a council, to see what type of options are there, and see how it fits into Horizon’s strategy.”
Back in April, Shephard took control of doctor recruitment and promised to end the waiting list for family doctors in the province. The move drew criticism from then-Horizon board chair John McGarry, who Shephard fired after he made negative comments at a Horizon board meeting, suggesting physicians would not want to talk with “bureaucrats in the deparmtneet of Health” about positions in the province.
Mesheau says he can’t comment on the role of the health department or Horizon in nurse recruitment.
“The minister was glad to hear that we, as a municipality, want to participate in help solving recruitment issues,” says Mesheau. “And there’s definitely interest on her part and her department’s part in seeing that happen. So how it goes from there, within their structure, I guess that’s up to the minister to work through with Horizon.”
Mesheau says that a meeting through MLA Megan Mitton’s office is in the works for next week, involving more people from the region, and members of Sackville’s ad hoc health committee, which was formed last winter after Horizon announced major cuts to service at the Sackville hospital, and five other rural hospitals in the province.
At their meeting on Monday, Sackville town council passed a motion appointing the mayor and one councillor to sit on the ad hoc health committee. Mesheau says that councillor will be Sabine Dietz, the councillor who put forward the motion to officially contribute members to the ad hoc committee.
“There’s further discussions and meetings that are being planned,” says Mesheau. “A key stakeholder meeting is being worked on through the MLA’s office next week. That will include representation from the ad hoc committee, the different municipalities and regions, and Horizon Health. So those are all components in trying to get us through this sooner than later.”
Mesheau says he left the meeting with Shephard feeling confident about the future of the Sackville hospital, but cautioned there was local level work to be done.
“Now it’s up to us to be diligent,” says Mesheau. “And to continue to be diligent as a community, and a region, in regards to our health care — and to be part of the solution. And I know that the ad hoc committee has done that. So let’s keep the dialogue going.”
