Six southwestern Ont. towns to see temporary emergency department closures next week

Staffing shortages are forcing temporary emergency department closures in six small southwestern Ontario towns next week as hospitals across the province grapple with high vacancy rates.

It’s happening at the same time as many rural areas experience a boom in tourists and hospital visits.

Between July 8 and July 14, the emergency departments in the communities of Wingham, Listowel, Chesley, St. Marys, Clinton and Seaforth will have rolling temporary closures. Most will be overnight, with officials saying they’re trying to minimize the impact on care.

“I think we all… appreciate that our three sites that have a reduction are not all at the same time,” said Mary Cardinal, with the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance that operates the hospitals in St. Mary’s, Clinton and Seaforth.

In all cases, staff shortages are to blame.

“We really exhausted all our options and to be fair to our staff, they have been tremendous,” said Cardinal.

She said the temporary closures are not decision the healthcare alliances “made lightly.”

Hospitals around the province have made similar moves because of high vacancies rates.

Locally, some unusual steps are being taken to try to cover as many shifts as possible.

“For example we have someone who now works in our IT department who formerly worked in our emergency department, they are a fully-trained emergency department nurse, they are taking a shift,” said Cardinal, adding that person is a non-union staff. “We have other leaders with a nursing background who have stepped in.”

‘TRAUMA SEASON’

The shortages are happening during a season that brings a boom in tourists and seasonal resident to smaller Ontario communities, especially near the great lakes.

“Every summer our teams at Norfolk and West Haldimand enter what’s known as ‘trauma season,’” said Aaron Gautreau, director of communications with Norfolk General Hospital and West Haldimand General Hospital.

“Because more people are active, the number of traumatic incidents and accidents skyrockets, so car crashes, boating accidents – of course we live in a farming community, so we see a number of farming incidents as well.”

The Norfolk and West Haldimand hospitals do not have any closures planned. But Gautreau said it could happen.

The Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance says its ER in Stratford will stay open 24/7.

No matter the location, the advice to anyone requiring emergency attention is to call 9-1-1 and paramedics will get patients to the nearest ER that's open.

The closest emergency departments are:

St. Marys Memorial Hospital

• Stratford - HPHA – Stratford General Hospital
• London – LHSC – University Hospital or Victoria Hospital
• Ingersoll – Alexandra Hospital

Clinton Public Hospital

• Seaforth - HPHA – Seaforth Community Hospital
• Goderich – Alexandra Marine & General Hospital
• Exeter – South Huron Hospital
• Wingham – LWHA – Wingham & District Hospital

Seaforth Community Hospital

• Clinton - HPHA – Seaforth Community Hospital
• Goderich – Alexandra Marine & General Hospital
• Exeter – South Huron Hospital
• Stratford – HPHA– Stratford General Hospital

Here are the planned closures and reductions of hours:

St. Marys Memorial Hospital

• July 8 – The Emergency Department will close at 5 p.m.
• Regular hours of operation (24/7) will resume on July 9, 2022 at 7 a.m.

Clinton Public Hospital

• July 11 – The Emergency Department will be closed.
• July 12 – The Emergency Department be open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Regular reduced hours of operation (8 a.m. to 6 p.m.) will resume on July 13, 2022 at 8 a.m.

Seaforth Community Hospital

• July 12 – The Emergency Department will close at 5 p.m.
• July 13 – The Emergency Department be open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• July 14 – The Emergency Department be open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Regular hours of operation (24/7) will resume on July 15, 2022 at 7 a.m.

Chesley Hospital

• July 9 - the Emergency Department will close from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m on Sunday, July 10
• July 10 - the Emergency Department will close from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. on Monday, July 11

Information on the Listowel and Wingham closures is available here.