Preeceville ER will change

The temporary closure of acute inpatient admissions and emergency room services at the Preeceville & District Health Centre prompted a delegation to attend the regular monthly meeting of the Sunrise Health Region’s Board of Directors to voice their concerns.

The closures came into effect June 1, with the Region issuing a release stating the services would remain closed until consistent and sustainable on-call physician coverage was secured.

All other services continue, uninterrupted. The Preeceville & District Health Centre facility is not closing, noted the Sunrise website at the time of the announcement. “It is only the emergency room and acute inpatient admission beds that are affected. The facility is being fully utilized and staffed.”

Suann Laurent, president and CEO of the Health Region reiterated that position at Wednesday’s meeting.

“We never had any intention of closing Preeceville,” she said when asked by group member Jennifer Bayer what the Region’s long term goal for services in the community.

Brad Romanchuk with Endeavour Council said the closure is a definite concern in his community of 70 people.

“People are really quite concerned about our emergency care,” he said, adding several young families have moved into the area and “young children tend to have accidents.” Preeceville’s emergency room is the closest emergency service to Endeavour.

Romanchuk said he appreciates ambulance service remains available, but cited “depending on road conditions we have some real concerns there too.”

That left him with two simple questions, “Can Sunrise Health Region offer our people some reassurances we’ll have our emergency back in short order?” and “Is there any way emergency can be open in July and August when a lot of people are around at community events?”

Laurent said the services are planned to be reinstated, but not before October, when new doctors are anticipated to be arriving in Preeceville.

Two new physicians are heading to Preeceville, Sask., to fill a gap in medical services that saw the suspension of emergency room services in the community.

One new doctor will be joining Preeceville’s primary health care team on Oct. 1, the Sunrise Health Region said Laurent.

Another doctor is currently undergoing the Saskatchewan International Physician Practice Assessment. That doctor is scheduled to begin in October as well, pending completion of the assessment.  

Laurent said the group’s effort should now be on how to keep the new doctors in Preeceville.

“How are we going to retain the doctors?” she questioned, adding the answer to the question can certainly have community input.

Retention will be critical in order to stabilize services.

“We can’t have it off, on, off, like it has been for years,” said Laurent. “… We have to look at a plan and model where we can have consistency.”

As for the exact level of service which lies ahead for Preeceville and area, that is far from finalized.

Laurent said on October, when the new doctors arrive, there will be “a conversation about what they want to do.” She added the doctors have to be willing to work within whatever system is created, or they will soon look to move to someplace where they feel more comfortable. “What do the new providers want to provide and how do we keep them … The people who have to build the mode; are the providers that are coming … We want to build it with them.”

That may mean emergency services return but on a scheduled basis, likely meaning extended hours, but not 24-hours, seven days a week.

“People want quality of life,” said Laurent, and that does not include being constantly on-call.

Dr. Phillip Fourie, Senior Medical Officer & VP of Medical Services said the old way is not working.

“We’ve been struggling for more than 10 years” to find physicians willing to provide on-call services.

Fourie said doctors are simply seeking work-life balance and that includes not being always on-call.

A different system can be effective though, continued Fourie, who noted most of the most serious emergency cases do not roll in in the middle of the night. He said farmers are not as active in the field at night, nor people driving their cars, nor children at play, all activities where emergency accidents can more often occur.

And, the model would also likely see the clinic open longer hours opening up more appointment slots for people too.

“We can’t tell you everything about what the model will look like,” said Laurent. “We haven’t landed on anything.”

However, she warned if the community expects physicians to work 24/7 “you will run them out of town.” adding that is why they will look to a different model come October.