Midway through December Sun Country Health notified the area that the emergency department and in-patient services at Arcola Health Centre would be suspended beginning Dec. 24 at 8 a.m.
There is an unknown date for when these services will resume, possibly in a couple of months; but, the Arcola Health Centre does continue to offer other services including x-ray lab, physiotherapy, and home care. Doctors in Arcola, Carlyle, and Redvers continue to offer their clinic hours. There is also a nurse practitioner in Carlyle who is a valuable asset for the area.
As stated by Sun Country Health Region CEO Marga Cugnet "Well we, the region, had a meeting with the physicians and they were struggling in the requirements to cover the emergency room so the decision was made to close the emergency room at this time until we get more stabilization of physician services."
A physician is currently going through assessments where they will hopefully finish the program and be approved within 12 weeks. Doctors are not able to speed through the process and even after they pass the assessment period are able to apply for any available positions; they are not assigned a specific area as is a common misconception. However, some good news is that this specific candidate, who will begin her assessment this month, has already decided on Arcola.
"Likely be for several months right now we know that there is a new physician that is going to be in the assessment process starting January and she is slated to be in Arcola when she completes that program so the earliest she'll be done will likely be around the first of April."
"She will be a fourth physician for that area."
Emergency services and in-patient services will potentially reopen once the new physician passes the assessment. The health region will meet with the doctors in the area to ensure a viable on-call schedule can be developed to appeal to all of the physicians in order to ensure they are happy and will stay in the community.
Sun Country will continue doctor recruitment. Additionally, "the region has also agreed to place a nurse practitioner into Arcola, so we do have a job posting up. So, we are looking for another nurse practitioner to join that group," Cugnet explained.
The region and province are attempting to develop different ways to recruit to rural areas and possibly establish Collaborative Emergency Centres modeled on those in Nova Scotia. It has been difficult, but Sun Country is continually working on obtaining more physicians for the region.
For now the emergency services will remain closed and those in urgent need should call 911 for ambulance services. Weyburn General Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital in Estevan, and the Galloway Health Centre in Oxbow continue to have emergency services available.
