City Council was put on notice that the new hospital emergency facilities could face closures this summer unless action in taken.
Dr. Marc Lambiotte told council during the public input session of Tuesday’s council meeting that summer emergency room shifts are not being filled due to holidays and other staffing issues.
Mayor Sharie Minions said the city is aware, and is working on the problem.
“We are aware that it is a possibility and we know that there are a group of physicians as well as the Province and Island Health working already to mitigate that and make sure that our Emergency Room is open all summer long with no closures,” she said.
Minions said she’s relaying the community’s concerns to island health, and doing everything possible to ensure the local ER doesn’t close this summer.
Saanich and Saltspring Island hospitals recently announced impending closures due to staffing issues and summer holidays there.
Minions assured Dr. Lambiotte that the city would follow up on his suggestion to reinstate a committee tasked with finding and retaining new doctors and nurses for the valley.
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