Wingham’s emergency room will be closed Saturday from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. Listowel ER will be closed Sunday night from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. and Seaforth’s emergency room will be closed on both Friday and Saturday nights, from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. “In small hospitals, when you have a small department and you lose two or three people to illness or other leaves, it leaves you very short,” says Karl Ellis, CEO of the Wingham-Listowel Hospitals Alliance. In total, 14 Ontario hospitals will close ERs, beds or ICU units this long weekend due to a lack of staff, mainly nurses, to fill those shifts. While it occurs mainly in small, rural hospitals, hospitals in large centers are also struggling to cover the shifts. “You can imagine a hospital in the greater Toronto area that can’t open its doors to the emergency department,” says Catherine Hoy, president of the Ontario Nurses Association. CTV News reached out to the Department of Health for comment on the situation and received the following response: “Like many jurisdictions around the world, Ontario’s health care system is under pressure due to the challenge of maintaining required staffing levels. We work proactively with all partners, including Ontario Health, the 140 public hospital corporations, regulatory faculties and health sector unions. This includes both short-term and long-term solutions,” says Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones. “Human resources issues don’t get resolved overnight when we’re in a shortage like we are,” says Jeff Horseman, head of Huron County Emergency Services. Ellis says in Wingham and Listowel, they’ve had staff working 16-hour shifts, coming in on their days off and working overtime to keep ERs open for the past two years. “But you get to the point where that’s not sustainable anymore, and that’s where we’re at now,” he says. Hospital officials are urging people to call 911 if they need immediate medical attention, and paramedics will take them to the nearest hospital with an open emergency room.
