By Angela Hill

Victoria hospital busier, Shellbrook seeks doctors

Aug 11, 2011 | 6:17 AM

While the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region and community of Shellbrook continue to look for doctors, Victoria Hospital grows busier.

There are doctors that have been shortlisted and might be able to write an entrance exam in September and if they pass, those physicians could start the immigration process in the late fall.

In the meantime, the shortage has meant the temporary closure of acute care beds in the Shellbrook Hospital and the reduction of emergency room services to weekends only.

Those beds are not sitting empty however, they are being used for patients awaiting long-term care placements.

“We are using the beds and the staff at Shellbrook to meet the needs of the residents. They’re providing good service to individuals who don’t need acute care. We’re trying to make use of all of our resources,” said Cecile Hunt, CEO of the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region.

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“It is about providing appropriate care to individuals waiting for placement in a safe, secure environment and ensuring there are beds at Victoria Hospital for patients awaiting surgery and other acute care.”

About eight people have already been transferred, and while there was some concern from patients wanting to remain in the city, Hunt said there has to be balance.

“We’re trying to meet the needs of the residents of this region, trying to balance acute care needs as well as others that are needing placement or convalescent care,” she said.

Even with eight more beds available in Victoria Hospital for acute care and surgery recovery, it’s still overcapacity.

“We are faced with lots of patients seeking emergency services as well as inpatient services and we do have some overflow … we’ve removed 20 acute care beds out of the system. That’s not easily replicated,” she said.

Last Saturday alone about 28 ambulances brought patients to the Victoria Hospital emergency department.

Community support is appreciated as the region continues to search for enough physicians to maintain primary care access and a management on-call rotation at the Shellbrook Hospital, Hunt said.

Recruiting doctors, especially from overseas, can be a timely process, said George Tomporowski, Shellbrook mayor, in a press release.

“It is important for our citizens and the citizens of our neighbouring communities to understand that we strongly believe this is a temporary setback,” he said.

“Our local recruitment folks, with co-operation from the region, have been working very hard to find physicians interested in setting up practice in Shellbrook and there are several very good possibilities on the list.”

See related: Shellbrook acute care services to be disrupted

ahill@panow.com