“I just spoke with Interior Health. [Monday]”They have promised to respond sooner if they knew there was a possibility of closure,” Blackwell explains. “There was a nursing shortage. If the closures continue, there will be a nursing shortage. Right now, Helmken employs some local nurses as well as agency and travel nurses. We've been balancing that for about two years now.”
This marks the third time in the past month that Helmcken Memorial Hospital's emergency department has been closed. Asked about the closures during a media event on Monday morning, Health Minister Adrian Dix suggested that sometimes such closures are unavoidable.
“With the relatively low number of cases, there is a risk that if we have the emergency room open at night with a small number of staff, we'll have patients that are sick every now and then, and they have to take time off because they're sick,” Dix said. “We're always trying to accommodate those patients, not just in Clearwater but in other places as well.”
Blackwell noted that they continue to work with Interior Health to make it easier for nurses to come to Clearwater for work, and there are several incentives in place for those who want to relocate to North Thompson.
“There are some regulations and rules about where nurses can be within Interior Health, and we're trying to remove those so that they're not a barrier,” Blackwell said. “I know Clearwater has some financial and training incentives in place, so if you come here as an RN or LPN and want to advance to emergency department (ED status), that training is paid for and done here.”
