Port McNeill and Port Hardy hospitals have been crippled by doctor and nurse shortages, resulting in emergency-department closures since the spring.
Port Hardy and Cormorant Hospital emergency departments will remain closed overnight until more resources are secured and services improved with $30 million in new operating and capital funding, Health Minister Adrian Dix said Friday.
“We believe in these three hospitals, we believe that they have a powerful future, we are investing in that future capital and staffing resources and more services,” Dix said at a news conference Friday at the B.C. legislature, adding the ministry and health authority’s main goal is to bump up staffing.
The hiring of two new physicians in Port McNeill last year eased shortages there, but Port Hardy’s emergency department has lost physicians, resulting in increasing overnight and weekend closures — the ER has been closed 25 per cent of the time since October. Cormorant Hospital in Alert Bay has seen similar overnight closures.
Last week, Port Hardy physician Dr. Alex Nataros said as of July 1, he will become the only ER doctor in the town of 4,000. Two physicians are scheduled to leave over the next few months. The funding will also provide for 10 additional protection service officers to improve safety, and upgraded accommodations for travelling staff, which Dix said is a huge part of attracting and retaining doctors and nurses to the area.
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