AMHERST – Bradley Beaulieu has been three times unlucky waiting to have a routine operation at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre.
The Amherst man is one of dozens of surgical cases that have been postponed at the hospital because of a shortage of anesthesiologists. His hernia surgery was supposed to take place in April 2017. It was cancelled because he needed additional blood work, but the other two times were because there was no anesthetist. He has yet to be given a new date.
“It’s very frustrating because I am entering flight school in September and have to have this done before I can start,” said Beaulieu.
In an email to the Amherst News, Nova Scotia Health Authority northern zone medical executive director, Dr. Nicole Boutilier, said anesthesia resources have been impacted for a few months at the Cumberland regional hospital for a variety of reasons that can’t be discussed because of confidentiality and privacy.
There were three full-time and one part-time anesthetists in Amherst. One of those was scheduled to leave at the end of June.
“Anesthesia colleagues from the NSHA’s northern zone have travelled to Amherst to cover gaps in the schedule to ensure that emergency, obstetrics, urgent and most elective surgeries have been covered when short-staffed at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre,” Dr. Boutilier said.
She said all elective surgeries that were cancelled will be rescheduled as soon as possible. Beaulieu’s has yet to be rescheduled. She said everything is being done to alleviate the situation.
“Recruitment efforts to secure full-time replacements and addition locum services are ongoing,” said Dr. Boutilier. “Dr. Janneke Gradstein, site lead in Amherst, has attended job fairs in Quebec, London and Ireland. She is also chairing a community-based recruitment committee with local municipal leaders, the foundation and MLA. Hiring is underway for a second recruiter and a recruitment assistant for the northern zone.”
She said NSHA physician leaders in the northern zone are actively working on issues with the Department of Health and Wellness, College of Physicians and Surgeons and Doctors Nova Scotia, as well as the foundation, to help attract and retain physicians.
Bruce Saunders is the former chair of the Cumberland Health Authority that was eliminated when the Liberal government of Stephen McNeil was elected in 2013. He is disappointed with the degradation of health care at the Cumberland regional hospital since the CHA was disbanded.
“It’s a situation that’s best described as a house of cards,” said Saunders. “If you lose one of those cards, in surgical service, how long will it take before the other cards begin to fall? At the end, we could lose our regional status.”
Saunders said other specialists at the hospital have quietly expressed concerns for the future of their practices and some are beginning to look elsewhere. He said an emergency department can’t be effectively run without intensive care unit and surgical backup.
“This could lead to a very serious problem,” Saunders said.
It’s a situation that reminds him of 2001 when the local health authority was set up. Saunders said the hospital relied on locum physicians to fill many specialty roles including surgery and obstetrics.
“When we started, as the CHA, there were eight specialists at the Cumberland regional. When we were finished, there were 22,” Saunders said.
darrell.cole@amherstnews.ca
Twitter: @ADNdarrell
