Doctors warn of 'staffing crisis, service interruptions' at Oromocto ER

Emergency physicians in Oromocto and Fredericton are warning patients that the Oromocto Public Hospital will be unstaffed in the evenings because of a physician shortage that has reached "crisis" levels.

A statement was posted on Oromocto ER physician Dr. Yogi Sehgal's Facebook page on Sunday and attributed to Fredericton and Oromocto emergency medicine physicians.

The statement says a "serious" shortage of physicians has led to the decision to have the Oromocto ER unstaffed from 6 p.m. onwards, effective Monday, June 21.

"We simply do not have enough physicians to safely provide quality patient care at both the Fredericton and the Oromocto emergency departments," the statement says.

"Therefore, we have informed the Horizon Health Authority that, beginning June 21, 2021 we will be unable to staff the OPH Emergency Department after 6 p.m. each evening. Patients arriving to OPH after 4 p.m. should be redirected to other care, and many patients may not be seen."

The statement notes the situation will "likely persist for the foreseeable future."

In an interview, Sehgal said the hospital has been grappling with staffing shortages and a physician shortage for years, operating with 12 full-time physicians when it should have about 20.

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Sehgal, who does the hospital's emergency room scheduling, says they have been patching up staffing holes — such as by bringing in doctors from Saint John or Fredericton, working overtime and cutting into vacation time — but that the situation has become unworkable.

The risk to patient safety, combined with the mental health toll on physicians, has reached a breaking point, he said.

"We've had to put people in positions that are simply not safe for patients or for the physician," he said. "And it's always managed, but ... there have been complaints. There have been long delays."

Some physicians have left the hospital, while others are buckling under the weight of the workload and stress, Sehgal said.

He stressed that every attempt is made to provide staffing backup.

"But there are some days you just can't ... one doctor is busy with traumas and there's zero backup if you get another critically ill patient."

Sehgal noted the physicians' statement is not a statement from the Horizon Health Network or from Oromocto Public Hospital management.

However, he said, physicians have made their position "abundantly clear" to Horizon.

"Our chief of emerg has met with them several times and we really have heard no answer back in terms of what was going to happen. So as a group, we decided we ... had to make it public, because at the end of the day, it's about patient safety."

Horizon Health Network told CBC News that emergency room physician coverage "has been secured" for Monday night.

"I can confirm the evening shift for tonight has been covered, so there is no change as of today," spokesperson Kris McDavid said in an email on Monday.

McDavid added that he is awaiting updates and will provide more information on the situation as it becomes available.