Montague ER closures worry local residents

Monday's temporary closure of the emergency room at the hospital in Montague, P.E.I., has left some area residents feeling anxious.

Administrators at the Kings County Memorial Hospital said the ER was forced to close a few hours early because it was short staffed. The ER operates with one physician and the hospital was only able to find a replacement to cover a part of the 14-hour shift. As a result, all emergencies after 4 p.m. were handled by the much larger Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown.

Locals concerned

However, what is particularly concerning to those who rely on the hospital is that this isn't the first time they've seen this problem.

In fact, this week's closure marked the third time this fall and the second time this month that the hospital has had to close its emergency room.

Well it's certainly true that anyone who lives in those areas would be anxious when they suddenly found out the emergency room is closed.- Dr. André​ Celliers

"We feel very bad for the people," said 84-year-old Eva Buchanan.

"I mean, I just got a pacemaker in. Where would I go when my pacemaker doesn't work right?" she said.

Laurie Richmond was also troubled by the closure.

"I don't think it's really good either for the simple reason if somebody gets sick, they have to go all the way to Charlottetown and sometimes by the time they get to Charlottetown it's too late," she said.

Fewer closures

When asked about the recent closures, the province's health authority said this year there's been a reduction in the number of overall temporary closures.

According to Dr. André Celliers, the interim executive medical director for Health PEI, the province only had four temporary closures province-wide this year, which he said is an improvement from previous years.

"Well it's certainly true that anyone who lives in those areas would be anxious when they suddenly found out the emergency room is closed," Celliers said.

"I do want to reassure them though, that the appropriate bypass protocols is in place at QEH as well as at [Prince County Hospital]  . . . and we keep the community involved as well, and you can always look at the wait times online as well to make sure that you know what's happening."

Administrators say while they do have gaps in ER staffing schedules for Island hospitals over the coming weeks, they are working on filling those gaps in order to keep ERs open.

If partial or temporary closure becomes unavoidable, Health PEI said it will notify the public.

While the Montague ER was open again on Tuesday, residents said they hope Monday's shutdown will be the last one they see for a while.

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