On May 18, the Sunrise Health Region announced that there will be temporary changes to the services offered a the
Preeceville and District Health Centre effective June 1.
Acute inpatient admissions and emergency room services will be suspended on a temporary basis until predictable, consistent and sustainable on-call coverage is secured, states the Sunrise release. Preeceville continues to have aroundthe- clock emergency services provided by ambulance and paramedics which can be accessed by calling 9-1-1.
The Preeceville and District Health Centre facility is not closing and there will not be any job losses as a result of this current situation, it said. The Health Centre will be fully utilized and staffed for lab and X-ray services, long-term care, respite, day wellness and the primary health care clinic, visiting services and home care. Outpatient treatments will continue such as suture removal, dressing changes, IV antibiotics, and nebulizer treatments. More long-term care beds, respite, and palliative care will be added to meet local needs.
Sunrise Health Region recognizes the need for additional long-term care in the Preeceville area, the release said. In addition to the 38 long-term care beds and two respite beds, six additional long-term care beds will be put into service. This will help address the need and will assist several people from the Preeceville area who are currently on transfer lists awaiting open long-term care beds in Preeceville.
Four beds at the Health Centre will be available for stable clients requiring supervised care; examples being respite care, and palliative care.
Preeceville currently has one physician and a nurse practitioner who will continue to provide clinic appointments at the primary health care clinic which is located in the Health Centre.
Sunrise Health Region is devoted to working with the community, the release said.
Dr. Morteza Shahrestani, and Dawn Kennedy, nurse practitioner, are continuing their work at the Preeceville Primary Health Care Centre.
The primary health care team in Preeceville will continue work to improve access to services and medical appointments.
Currently, the Health Centre has 38 long-term care beds, two respite beds and a day wellness program in the north part of the complex. In the south part of the Health Centre, six more long-term care beds will be added and there are four beds to be used for additional respite and palliative and alternate levels of care.
Visiting services continue on site and by telehealth, from mental health and addictions services, dietitians, the exercise therapist and the chronic disease management team, states the release. Home care, physiotherapy and public health services continue to be available in their current locations.
The circumstances dictated this decision, states the Sunrise release. “It is not safe to have inpatients or an emergency room without 24/7 physician coverage. Given the circumstances, the Sunrise Regional Health Authority made the decision to avoid disruption as much as possible by utilizing the beds and staff to address other identified needs in the community; such as, the need for more long-term care, respite and palliative care.”
In order to provide 24/7 emergency coverage, a practice of four physicians, at a minimum, is needed, said the release. Fewer than four physicians in a call rotation often leads to physician burn out and starts a cycle of ongoing recruitment and retention issues, a revolving door of providers, and inconsistent and unreliable service for the public.
Since 2006, frequent emergency room service interruptions in Preeceville have occurred, said the release. Preeceville physician on-call coverage was supplemented by physician locums. Breaks in coverage led to service interruptions. Sufficient physician coverage is no longer available to sustain past practice.
Since 2010, Sunrise has recruited five physicians for Preeceville and since then, four have left. Four physicians had been offered contracts but refused them. Three have been recruited but were not successful in meeting requirements of the Saskatchewan International Physician Practice Assessment (SIPPA) program. These numbers do not include physicians who were interviewed and who made site visits. Numerous locums have filled temporary gaps. Those who did not accept contracts said their decisions were due to the excessive on-call schedule needed for 24/7 emergency room coverage leaving little free time for personal interests and family.
A second physician recruited for Preeceville is registered for the SIPPA program, but the earliest that this physician can begin practice in Preeceville is in mid-October.
Persons unsure of what to do in a potential emergency are asked to call Healthline. Healthline is a telephone service available to everyone in Saskatchewan for nursing advice and to learn emergency room locations. Dial 8-1-1 for Healthline.
Sunrise data shows that the majority of visits to the emergency room in Preeceville over recent years were not for emergency services. The vast majority were people not requiring emergency care although they had genuine need for primary health care.
“We believe that these people went to the Emergency Room because they could not get an appointment quickly and during hours that worked for them. Our primary health care team is working to give these people greater access to primary health care in Preeceville, as providers become available.”
A physician or nurse practitioner will continue to do rounds to check on the health of the residents in long-term care. In an emergency, an ambulance would be called.
Sunrise Health Region is committed to work with the community of Preeceville to retain physician services in the community and to ensure consistent primary health care, the release said.
