Staff resource issues are being blamed for several service disruptions in the Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) region.

Emergency department listings on the PMH website indicate service disruptions in seven different communities.

“Unfortunately we’ve had to adjust services for a number of our sites in PMH with two of them being Deloraine and Boissevain” said CEO Brian Schoonbaert.

“Boissevain was likely hit the hardest because we actually had to close the in-patient beds along with the E-R services. It came down staffing vacancies and not being able to find enough staff. We had staff working far too many hours and even though they might have been willing to pick up some of these shifts you can only work so many hours before you burn out and secondly there were shifts still unfilled.”

Schoonbaert says it has to do with both nursing and diagnostic staff and the service disruptions will continue until January 4th.

Boissevain-Morton Head of Council Judy Swanson calls the situation unacceptable. “I’m so upset. I spoke with Dr. Nell and they believed there was enough staff. We plan to meet with Prairie Mountain Health over the next week and we want to meet with the H-R department to talk about staffing and opportunities in the new year. We have a recruitment fund and I don’t know if it’s being utilized properly or is even known about by the health officials.”

“We always see things happen in Deloraine or Killarney and nothing here and that’s about to change.”

CEO Brain Schoonbaert weas asked if Covid was a factor in any of the most recent service changes.

“No not yet. We might be seeing the affects of omicron on our staffing right away and in fact we have in some jurisdictions. These closures aren’t because of Covid. We’ve become too reliant on agency nurses. They can pick up shifts when they want and Christmas is typically a season when they don’t pick up shifts or they get a better deal elsewhere like out of province. We were working to the last minute to fill these positions but we couldn’t do it so we had to make a decision and put out the notice of reduced services.”

He adds all staff, including agency staff, are tired from dealing with Covid. “With more nursing seats being established that will help in the long term. In the shorter term we’re hoping in a year or so we might be able to see some of the internationally educated graduates come out.”

“The best graduate is a home grown grad and we support communities encouraging their own young people to take the courses and come back home to work” said Brian Schoonbaert.

Judy Swanson says her council will work hard to keep local health services.

“It’s alarming to me a community of our size closes those services and for a community on Highway #10. They move patients out to accommodate staffing. I know staffing is an issue but the fact is it’s always an issue and has never been dealt with."