ESTEVAN - Due to a nursing staff shortage, St. Joseph's Hospital will have a bypass of obstetrics and surgery departments for the weekend.
From 7 a.m. on Saturday until 7 a.m. on Tuesday, these departments will be only accepting critical emergency patients. Most of the patients will be sent to Regina. The hospital is currently getting a message out to the people.
During this time, only emergency deliveries will be performed.
Expectant mothers should call St. Joseph’s Hospital at 306-637-2400 at the first signs of labour to allow enough time for risk assessment, consultation and a safe plan for delivery. Physicians delivering babies during these hours may need to assess and transfer if a cesarean section may be required.
In the event of an emergency call 9-1-1 and an ambulance will be dispatched to provide assistance. Non-urgent health-related questions can be directed to the provincial HealthLine 811, by dialing 8-1-1.
St. Joseph's executive director Greg Hoffort explained that both departments require the registered nurses to have specialty training, and they didn't have enough staff available to safely cover the weekend.
"Unfortunately, this weekend, we weren't able to fully staff the wards to the point where it would be safe to be open. So we bypass," Hoffort said.
"Presently there's a nursing shortage in Saskatchewan. And we have a number of nurses with the specialty training away on leaves, on maternity leaves and other."
The hospital had two gaps in service this summer, but they hope to avoid them moving forward. They have a few vacant positions that they are working towards filling. He added that all hospitals in Saskatchewan are dealing with the same problem, which makes it more difficult for everyone to recruit so-much needed personnel.
