‘I get why people are nervous. I’m nervous’: Local doctor concerned about impact of ER closures

Overcrowding and closures are leading to longer wait times in Ontario hospitals, and that has one local emergency department doctor concerned as we head into summer.

Dr. Alan Drummond, an emergency physician at the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital, told The Sam Laprade Show that provincial hospitals, especially those in rural areas, struggle to keep up with demand.

“Every weekend in Ontario, an emergency department closes. In Lanark County, we have a contingency plan in place for Perth should we have an unexpected closure. What should happen? We have Almonte and Carlton Place closing now routinely. Arnprior closed a couple of weeks ago.”

Dr. Drummond, co-chair of the Public Affairs Committee of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, said the Kemptville hospital currently relies on Ottawa doctors to staff their emergency room.

“Locally, we have ample evidence that things just aren’t quite right, and I get why people would be nervous. I’m nervous. I’m afraid, actually.”

Dr. Drummond explains that more beds are needed to move people out of the emergency department in a timely manner because the overcrowding is a result of people who need immediate care and are spending days in the ER waiting for beds.

He went on to say that the issue is not solely due to the lack of primary care physicians and those who use emergency rooms as a result.

“The real issue is lack of bed availability. It’s not a question of people with coughs and colds. It’s a matter of really sick elderly people who spend days in our emergency rooms or hallways waiting for bed availability.”

The doctor also drew a direct line between the overcrowding of emergency rooms to the amount of level zero ambulance responses in the City of Ottawa. “That’s what causes all this inability of ambulances to respond because they’re stuck outside the emergency department because they can’t unload their precious cargo.”

Emergency department closures are not a new issue. Last July, the Perth emergency room had to shut down for more than a week as they experienced a lack of personnel and a COVID-19 infection among their staff.

At the time, Michael Cohen, president and chief executive officer of the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital, said, “This is the first time that we’ve been forced to take the unfortunate steps to have to close a program at our hospital and certainly the emergency. I think it’s unprecedented.”

Premier Doug Ford told reporters Tuesday, June 20, in Ottawa that his government will continue to fund hospitals, but what they do with those funds is up to them.

“We’re always going to be there to fund the system. Always. But I can’t direct the CEO’s of the hospitals. They get their funding, and they do what they need to do to run the hospital in the most efficient way possible.”

The premier reiterated that his government is investing $50 billion to upgrade healthcare infrastructure in the province, with nearly $30 million invested in the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus.