CHESLEY – Beginning Monday, Dec. 5, the Chesley hospital emergency department will resume service five days per week, Monday to Friday, during the hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The ER will remain closed overnight and on weekends.
The South Bruce Grey Health Centre (SBGHC) board of directors approved the service resumption at a special meeting on Nov. 9.
A temporary full closure of the Chesley hospital ER was implemented on Oct. 6 for an eight-week period due to a critical shortage of nurses. Since that time, SBGHC’s leadership team and board of directors have been evaluating the level of service that can be safely provided with the staffing resources that will be available.
A number of options for service resumption were evaluated by the board, and based on the available nursing resources in early December 2022, the decision was made to proceed with the five days per week service. This decision will remain contingent on the finalization of the physician funding arrangement with the Ministry of Health, which will ensure physician coverage of the Chesley inpatient unit and ER, along with support for emergency departments in neighbouring hospitals. SBGHC will also continue to rely on the use of agency nurses in order to proceed with this partial resumption of service.
The Chesley inpatient unit, community lab collections and diagnostic imaging services have remained operational throughout this period, and will continue to be open and operational moving forward.
This partial resumption of service is a temporary solution, for an indefinite period of time, as no significant improvements are anticipated in the provincial health human resources situation in the near future. SBGHC will continue to work with regional hospital and health system partners on the creation of a sustainable model for both the short and longer-term future.
“The goal of SBGHC is to maintain four strong viable sites across our corporation. We understand the importance of the hospital and its emergency department to the Chesley community, and heard that clearly at the recent community information session,” said Michael Barrett, SBGHC CEO. “This partial reopening will assist in returning some level of emergency department service to the Chesley community, and allow SBGHC to continue to work with regional partners on the creation of a viable model for the short and longer-term.”
For more information on the service reductions at the Chesley hospital, a detailed Q&A is available on SBGHC’s website: www.sbghc.on.ca/hospital-service-reductions-due-to-nursing-shortages.
