The CEO of the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance brought members of Central Huron council up to date on the staffing situation at the Clinton Public Hospital at their last meeting.
Andrew Williams told council they do not, at this point, have an end date for the overnight reduced hours in the Emergency Department. He explained they have had some recent success in recruiting with the addition of five new people.
“Four nurses on the in-patient, one in the ED. Remaining optimistic remains a top priority for us. We are, as every health care organization is, dealing with significant pressures on the staffing front across all areas,” Williams said.
Williams also pointed out the problem is not as visible in some larger hospitals but that does not mean they’re not dealing with the same problems.
“In larger centres where they may not have to close with one sick call, they’re often working below the number of staff they need. So the pressures may not be visible on the front page of the news in larger facilities, but all organizations that I’m aware of are really stressed,” Williams explained.
There had been some discussion recently about accelerating the process for internationally-trained nurses who are living in Canada and Williams said they do have a couple of internationally-trained nurses on their team.
“Changes in processing and licensing, I think, will help everywhere, although the numbers right now of people are not significant. Every person coming in is going to help somewhere. We have seen some benefits of that,” added Williams.
But Williams said there is no quick fix for the problem and organizations are going to continue to be under stress and be challenged to be creative in how they work with their teams. He also believes that all of the players have to be involved in the conversations around a solution, including the providers, educational systems and politicians who make decisions on policy issues.
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