Lachine Hospital cuts nightly emergency services – Montreal | The Canadian News

The healthcare workforce shortage in Quebec is claiming one of the main victims: Lachine Hospital.

MUHC officials will close emergency room hours beginning November 7, and nearly all ambulance services will be canceled the same day.

“Emergency patients in ambulances will be diverted to other emergency rooms in Montreal,” said Dr. Pierre Gfeller, president and CEO of MUHC, at a news conference Friday afternoon.

Ambulances will only bring patients to Lachine Hospital in life-threatening situations, such as someone in cardiac arrest or respiratory distress.

The decision comes as officials are struggling to make up for severe labor shortages.

The hospital is missing 44 percent of its nurses and nearly two-thirds of its respiratory therapists.

“We have asked for volunteers to come back and help out. So we are doing everything we can, ”Gfeller said.

The CEO emphasizes that elective surgeries and all other patient care continues as planned.

But Gfeller says the understaffing can be attributed to two things: Many entering healthcare professionals prefer to work in modern hospitals, such as the institutions at the Glen site, and getting to Lachine Hospital can be challenging.

“Lachine is kind of an enclave within the city of Montreal with very little public transportation. So that makes it very difficult, ”he said.

Officials plan to reassess the situation in a couple of weeks, but the return of the emergency room and ambulance services to full-time, 24-hour care may not occur until early next year.

“I hope it’s weeks and not many, many months. I would expect it to be back to normal at the beginning of the year, January, “said GFeller.