Western Manitoba health officials expect to have 20 doctors by the end of this summer as they struggle to find staff in two personal care homes and prevent the temporary closure of emergency services.
Sue Stirling, part of a civic group fighting to keep health services alive in Grandview, was briefed on Prairie Mountain Health’s challenges at a meeting she and others in the community attended earlier this month.
The situation in the region is bleak, she said.
“It’s even so far from what it used to be [when we were] going through a pandemic, “said Stirling, a member of the Grandview Health Care Solutions group.
“I guess the way to describe this would be the perfect storm,” she said. “We just left COVID. We have a shortage of nurses. We have a shortage of doctors.”
Grandview, a city of about 1,400 people located 290 kilometers northwest of Winnipeg, is feeling the effects.
A week ago, her hospital switched from maintaining 14 beds to eight due to staff shortages, which she hopes will be temporary.
Empty beds in nursing homes due to lack of staff
Sterling said she learned during a meeting with Prairie Mountain Health CEO Brian Schunbaert that there would be 20 vacancies in the region by the end of the summer.
In addition, 22 beds for personal care in Dauphin and nine beds in Gilbert Plains are empty because there are not enough nurses to take care of these residents.
In addition, Prairie Mountain anticipates that it will have to temporarily close emergency departments in various locations throughout the summer and temporarily relocate some emergency departments to emergency facilities due to staff and service constraints.
This has happened in various communities in the Prairie Mountains over the years.
Although staffing challenges did not develop overnight, Stirling said the outlook for the coming months is daunting, especially as employees take time off.
From her point of view at the meeting, Sterling said the message from the health authorities was clear: “It will get worse in the summer because we are in such a bad position to cope right now.”
She recently wrote a synopsis of the meeting, which was published in a community newspaper and shared on Facebook.
Sterling said transparency was part of the reason for writing the letter, “but more importantly, the community knows that there are things happening in the background that are beyond anyone’s control at the moment.”
The number of beds with staff at Grandview Hospital in Mann fell earlier this month due to job vacancies. (Sent)
The public group Grandview Health Care Solutions does its best to support existing staff and support recruitment efforts. He works with Prairie Mountain on ways to find volunteers for basic tasks, such as answering phones, in the hospital and at home care.
The municipality itself offers bonuses for signing new nurses who commit to staying for two years – up to $ 20,000 – and in a few days will take ownership of a house that the new nurses can share.
Grandview also offers financial support to help doctors run clinics.
Mayor Dwayne Beaumacke, who attended the meeting with Prairie Mountain, said the “hanging of this carrot” had brought health workers into the community.
“I guess the government should take responsibility for these things, but it’s just not going to happen from what we’ve seen,” he said.
“Basically, if we want community health, that’s something we have to do.”
Home care solutions
At a recent meeting, Stirling said she had been told the government was exploring several ways to improve the health situation.
The province seeks to keep some people in need of lower levels of care at home instead of moving them to a personal care home by providing them with money to support themselves at home. The government may look into business to establish this type of support, Stirling said.
In addition, Sterling wrote in his letter, the province is considering developing a provincial nursing agency.
When asked to respond to Stirling’s letter and these proposed ideas, a government spokesman directed CBC News to a statement from Prairie Mountain Health.
In it, Schoonbaert did not talk about potential solutions, but said that the challenges with the staff deepen in the summer while people are on vacation.
“There is also a constant challenge of finding available staff for the agency to take free shifts during the summer months,” he said in an email.
“Her persistent and dedicated staff hires additional shifts whenever possible,” he said.
“We appreciate this level of commitment.”
Schoonbaert said the affected communities would be informed of any temporary closures.
EMS stations are reserved
Sterling said he appreciated that Prairie Mountain had recently met with a group of citizens, and although some of what they heard was discouraging, there was some “good news.”
The province’s plans to close more than a dozen emergency stations announced in 2017 have been delayed, at least until other health issues are resolved, she was told.
She says in Grandview that the fight for health care is linked to the vitality of their community, and she worries that the loss of the hospital and home care could be a death knell.
“Her passion for keeping people in this community and providing better care closer to home is right in all age groups,” she said.
“It’s every profession. It’s every area of life. It’s every age group. Everyone believes in the same thing.”
A difficult situation with health personnel is coming to Western Manitoba
Western Manitoba health officials expect to have 20 doctors by the end of this summer as they struggle to find staff in two personal care homes and prevent the temporary closure of emergency services.
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