Last-minute effort to schedule locums ensures Thessalon ER will stay open over holidays

The head of the North Shore Health Network (NSHN) calls it 'a Christmas miracle'.

All shifts in their three emergency departments over the holiday season will have doctors available.

"We've been working on this since the beginning of December," said David Murray, interim president and chief executive officer of the North Shore Health Network. It has health-care sites in Blind River, Richard's Landing and Thessalon.

"We have a full-time recruiter who has spent most of his days for the last two and a half weeks trying to arrange locum coverage, especially in Thessalon."

Up until the fall of 2021, there had been four permanent family physicians in Thessalon who covered shifts in the emergency department at the health centre.

"Last year at this time, we had two out of the four physicians in Thessalon. We went down to zero in January and we haven't been able to recruit permanent physicians into Thessalon," Murray said.

"That's made us rely 100 per cent on locums for the entire year to keep our emergency department open."

Last minute planning, effort to fill shifts

An incredible amount of work and planning went into ensuring there were doctors available in each ER over the upcoming holiday. Murray said the last few remaining shifts were finally filled Thursday evening.

Thessalon in particular was in jeopardy of having to close over the holidays because it wasn't going to have physicians available.

If the emergency department in Thessalon is not available, patients must travel to the emergency room in either Richard's Landing or Blind River. Those are about 50 kilometres away. The next option is the Sault Area Hospital in Sault Ste Marie, which is more than 90 kilometres west.

"The ability to shut the facility down is very complicated," Murray said.

"If it's going to be shut down for a longer period of time, we have to remove our blood products and our drugs. So it's not something which we ever want to do, and the planning that goes into shutting down is immense. We want to make sure there's some staff on site, the signage has to be changed. The public has to be advised, the ministry must be advised."

Murray said there were about a dozen meetings over the past week when they thought the Thessalon site was going to have to close.

"So that's why last night when we finally arranged that last shift there was a collective sigh of relief as somebody said it was a Christmas miracle."

Murray said he is grateful for physicians from the Sault Area Hospital who provide about 70 per cent of the locum coverage for Thessalon.

"It comes at a significant personal cost to them as far as taking time away from their families, especially at the holiday season, so I can't stress how much we appreciate that." 

'Light at the end of tunnel'

Despite the stressful year, Murray sees 'the light at the end of the tunnel'.

"I think things will improve in 2023."

North Shore Health Network has appointed a new president and CEO. Tim Vine will take over the role on Jan. 3.

"NSHN is my local provider, the one my family, and many of my wife's family across the North Shore access," Vine said in a news release in November.

"I want to make sure that local excellent care is available for my community and all the communities NSHN serves."