No more outpatient surgery at hospital
Andrea Macko, Staff Reporter The national nursing shortage problem is again hitting close to home at St. Marys Memorial Hospital.
At last Thursday evening’s meeting of the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance’s board, Dr. Jewson, St. Marys’ site chief, revealed that the hospital’s nurses will begin a new, 12-hour shift cycle in the next two weeks to ensure better coverage at the hospital, while giving staff longer durations of off time.
Secondly, outpatient surgeries were discontinued at St. Marys Memorial as of May 1, as the nursing staff to assist Dr. Maciver is not readily available.
The surgeries, which include procedures such as hernia operations and breast biopsies, are done once a month, usually within two to three hours.
According to Jewson, only two nurses are qualified to work in the operating room, “and they are heavily involved in the ER.” Finding coverage for those half-day shifts is becoming more and more difficult, Jewson says, whether it be reworking existing staff schedules or bringing in additional help.
Approximately 60 outpatient surgeries are performed at St. Marys Memorial annually; Jewson explains that patients will now have to go to Stratford to have these procedures done. Dr. Maciver will still perform his outpatient clinics and, without the time freed up from the surgical cuts, enhance the Fecal Occult Blood Testing program which helps detect colorectal cancer.
Dr. Hasagawa will still have his outpatient clinics for mole removals and other minor procedures.
There is some good news, however. The endoscopic services at St. Marys Memorial could be expanded, under Dr. Maciver’s watch.
The hospital currently has one scope for a variety of procedures, such as colorectal cancer screening and gastrointestinal scoping, and the amount of procedures it can do is limited, because the scope has to be sent out for cleaning after each patient.
A scope, including video technology, costs approximately $100,000. “A substantial outlay, but if we can do six to eight per day (once every two weeks), it would be a substantial benefit for our community hospital,” says Jewson.
Lynn Strugnel, vice president of clinical programming for the HPHA, says that the idea is still under review.
“It’s a recognition that times have changed,” says Jewson, who notes that, when he began his career at St. Marys Memorial in 1977, the operating room was usually busy for four of five days with surgeries that required general anesthesia.
While medical technology and operating costs have increased (requiring a centralization of services), Jewson also notes that staffing is an issue – and will continue to be an issue.
“Human resources will dictate how care is delivered,” he says.