Rachel Blaney pushes government about North Island emergency room closures

Rachel Blaney, NDP MP for North Island – Powell River, is pressing the government to provide more support for rural communities that are facing a health care disaster. Blaney brought up the appalling health care conditions and called for the government to increase the government health care transfers to provinces in her letter to the Minister of Health and the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. She also raised questions about the crisis during Question Period and in a debate with the parliamentary secretary.

“Since Spring 2022, hospitals throughout the North Island have struggled with staffing shortages which have forced them to periodically close emergency rooms, place temporary bans on walk-in patients, and limit hours of service,” Blaney wrote in her January 20, 2023, letter to the Ministers. “These staffing shortages are placing barriers on accessible health care in the region by forcing residents to travel long distances with risks to their immediate health and safety.”

Emergency rooms in Port Hardy, Alert Bay, and Port McNeill have experienced increasingly frequent unplanned rotating closures. Additionally, Campbell River’s outpatient lab has closed to walk-in patients repeatedly due to staffing shortages.

One patient collapsed at a local emergency room after seeking medical help and finding the ER closed. Meanwhile, a pregnant woman reported being forced to give birth without her partner because she had to be transported to another community when she could not access medical care. Patients are being forced to travel hours to get help, putting additional strain on the few hospitals with emergency rooms that remain open, and increasing the risk to their own health.

“Closures of emergency rooms are directly linked in our riding to a lack of staff,” Blaney said during a debate with the parliamentary secretary. “They are tired, they are burnt out and they are leaving. The federal government must stand with its provincial counterparts to support strategies to both attract and retain healthcare professionals across Canada’s rural communities. It is not sustainable, what is happening right now, and it is not safe.”

Blaney noted that the government does not have a plan to recruit and retain immigrant health care workers in rural and remote regions, such as the North Island – Powell River. She urged the Ministers to remember that rural areas require different recruitment and retention solutions than urban centres.

“Our healthcare system is collapsing, and this is a crisis of epic proportions,” Blaney says. “Workers are at a breaking point. People in our communities feel unsafe and they are concerned that emergency rooms will not be available when they are needed. Increasing the Canada Health Transfer would address this urgent situation. I will not let the government forget about our duty to Canadians who live in rural communities that are significantly impacted by gaps in our health care. New Democrats and I are committed to ensuring everyone has access to the medical care they need.”

If you agree that a meaningful solution to the health care crisis is needed, please visit Rachel Blaney’s website to download and sign her petition.

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Read MP Blaney’s letter here: https://rachelblaney.ndp.ca/sites/default/files/letter_min_ircc_health_re_staffing_0.pdf