Northern Cape Breton health-care woes prompt emergency debate at legislature

The community of Neils Harbour and its health-care services was at the centre of an emergency debate Friday at Province House.

The Tories called the debate following recent concerns at Buchanan Memorial Hospital that include limited ambulance services, the recent loss of lab services and not enough doctors, which has led to emergency department closures.

Tory MLA Keith Bain, whose district includes Neils Harbour, noted that one of the community's doctors is off sick and another is on maternity leave. That leaves one doctor to treat his patients, those in the hospital and cover the emergency department 24 hours a day.

"This," said Bain, "is being done by a doctor who is ready to wind down his practice and retire, but is so committed to the residents of the community that he has served for so many years.

" One doctor cannot or should not be expected to provide this care by himself."

Bain said he's particularly concerned about the closure of the lab services in favour of point-of-care testing and what it might mean for the community's ability to recruit more doctors, especially at a time when two of the three are ready to retire.

"Doctors will think twice about going to an area such as Buchanan, with all of its beauty and so on, if the services are not there for them to do their job."

New Democrat MLA Claudia Chender, who represents Dartmouth South,noted the geography challenges facing people in Neils Harbour and the surrounding rural areas.

They are more than two hours from another hospital, including the Cape Breton Regional in Sydney, and weather in the area can makes it difficult, if not impossible, to leave the community.

"We have challenges at the Dartmouth General, we have challenges across the province," said Chender.

"But for many of us, we've got good roads and flat geography and the ability, even if it is by taxi which it never should be to get somewhere else. These residents don't have that same luxury."

Health Minister Randy Delorey acknowledged staffing challenges are a problem at community hospitals throughout the province, but he also said Buchanan isn't a site that is regularly plagued by unscheduled emergency department closures.

Delorey said in the short term there have been increases in shift premiums for emergency department work and the fees paid to doctors who do locums. The health authority is also working on expanded use of nurse practitioners and an increase in the number of medical residency seats in rural areas should also help, he said.

"Through greater access to primary care, we can reduce pressures on our emergency departments."

Delorey said the complexity of the system and its problems make it difficult to make "instantaneous' changes, but he believes the government and provincial health authority are on the right track.

Opposition MLAs said they don't expect an emergency debate to change much in the short term, but they said having the subject discussed on the floor of the legislature is a good way to keep itin the spotlight.

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