14 hospitals in Ontario curb services due to staff shortages

It’s going to be another long weekend, with closed emergency rooms across Midwestern Ontario.

Wingham’s emergency room will be closed Saturday from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m., Listowel’s ER will be closed Sunday night from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m., and Seaforth’s emergency room will be closed 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 all, 14 hospitals in Ontario will be closing ER’s, beds, or ICU units this long weekend, due to a lack of staff, primarily nurses, to fill those shifts. At while it’s primarily happening in small, rural hospitals, hospitals in major centres are also struggling to fill shifts.

“Can you imagine a Greater Toronto Area hospital that can’t open their doors to the emergency department,” says Cathryn Hoy, president of the Ontario Nurses Association.

CTV News reached out the Ministry of Health for comment on the situation, and received this response:

“Like many jurisdictions around the world, Ontario’s health system faces pressures due to the challenge of maintaining the required staffing levels. We have been working proactively with all the partners, including Ontario Health, the 140 public hospital corporations, the regulatory colleges, and the health sector unions. This includes solutions for both the short term and long term,” says Ontario’s Health Minister, Sylvia Jones.

“Human Resources issues do not get resolved overnight, when we’re in a shortage, such as we are,” says Jeff Horseman, head of Huron County’s Emergency Services.

Ellis says in Wingham and Listowel, they’ve had staff work 16-hour shifts, come in on their days off, and take on overtime, in order to keep ERs open, over the past two years.

“But, you get to the point, where that’s just not sustainable anymore, and that’s the point we’ve reached now,” he says.

Hospital officials urge people to call 911 if they require immediate medical attention, and paramedics will take them to the nearest hospital, with an open emergency room.