A shortage of registered nurses results in reduced hours for emergency services in Wilkie

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All other services at the Wilkie and District Health Centre remain available as usual.

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Executive Director of Primary Health Northwest Vikki Smart said this is an issue slowly building for the last few months.

“We have been struggling for a while now with RN recruitment. It just came to a head when at the end of November we had about 2.7 full-time equivalents vacancies for that site. We have been working with HR all along and came to the decision that we just didn’t have the resources to continue on as we were. There was a lot of consultation done with a number of groups and this is what we arrived at as a workable solution,” she said.

Smart talked about how an issue like this one starts with one vacancy and then snowballs from there into a much larger staffing problem.

“You start with one position and then you are trying to recruit and covering with casual. Then another position becomes available and it is hard to recruit. We are not alone in the rural areas where RN recruitment is difficult at this time,” she said.

Emergency department services are available 24/7 in Unity and North Battleford. Emergency services may also be available at Biggar and District Health Centre. They ask that you call the Biggar facility first to verify emergency services availability, at 306-948-3323.

Recruitment for RN positions is a priority for Wilkie and District Health Centre. Updates will be provided to the community on the status of recruitment and the timing for returning the emergency department in Wilkie to its normal hours of operation.

In the event of an emergency, call 911. EMS will be dispatched to respond. EMS will assess the patient, initiate treatments and transport to the most appropriate facility to provide further care for the patient’s illness/injury.

“Between the SHA and the union and the facility we’ve all worked really hard together to provide the very best with what we have and I think we really came to a good workable solution,” Smart said.

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Keaton.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow