NRRM CAO urges action on nursing shortage

FORT NELSON, B.C. — Fort Nelson General Hospital faced another service interruption this week, and Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM) Chief Administrative Officer Scott Barry believes the issue extends beyond Northern Health.

The service interruption came only days after a special council meeting was held to address the hospital’s diversion on December 26th.

Barry says they have been in talks with staff at the hospital, and the efforts to maintain services in the emergency department are no longer sustainable.

Barry says this is because the department is one sick call away from not having the appropriate staffing levels, which is what happened on December 26th.

The CAO says they can ask the staff to push through and continue working, but that adds to their stress levels, which they do not need.

Barry says diversions aren’t ideal because emergency patients will be diverted to the Fort St. John Hospital, approximately 384 kilometres away.

The CAO says there’s no “magic wand” or “silver bullet” to fix the issue because even Fort St. John and Dawson Creek hospitals have been impacted by the nursing shortage.

Barry believes the nursing shortage needs to be addressed at provincial and federal levels more significantly.

Ideas he put forth include incentivizing nursing students to come to Fort Nelson or fostering an interest in those born in the community.

“From a localized level or health authority perspective is, ‘What can be done to mitigate those impacts or consequences?’” Barry said.

The CAO says it’s a collective effort from the local level, the health authority, the Ministry of Health, the nurses union and the BC Ambulance Service.

At approximately 4:30 p.m. on December 26th, Northern Health announced a diversion would begin at 6:30 p.m. and remain in effect until 7 a.m. on the 27th.

The NRRM held a special council meeting on January 2nd, with Northern Health representatives and members of the public in attendance.

A resolution in favour of a new memorandum of understanding between the NRRM and the Regional Hospital District was passed during a special Regional Hospital District meeting on January 8th.

The following day, on January 9th, the emergency department at the hospital was unavailable from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. due to “challenges with nursing staff availability.”