A hospital along the southern coast of Labrador now only has access to a virtual doctor, and has the residents concerned with the possible fatal consequences while waiting for a permanent doctor to be hired.
The Health and Labrador health services said that the effectiveness of February 14, the emergency coverage on the primary site and care would be available through virtual services in Labrador South Health Center in Forteau.
Dorman Fowler told CBC that his son, Silone Fowler, is quadriplegic and lives in L’Onse Au Loup. He says that his son needs to see a doctor every few weeks and can become urgent every time a tube that drains his bladder is blocked.
“We need something done and we need something to do something now, not next year,” Fowler told CBC Radio Labrador Morning.
He said that his son regularly requires attention to save lives in the hospital and an emergency can occur with very little notification.
“When [the tube] Blocks, we don’t have time for Medevac. We have no time for basically anything. It only arrives directly to the hospital in Forteau and the tube must be changed immediately, “Fowler said.
“If not, you can enter an anomic attack called, where its blood pressure is crossed by the clouds, high. And it could cause a heart attack, a blow or even death.”
Fowler says that nurses cannot do that kind of work, and says he is afraid that something happens.
“We need this at this time,” Fowler said.
Recruit a doctor
The vice president and director of interim operations of the Labrador-Grenfell area, Joanne Pelley, said that when people go to the hospital there are staff at the site that performs the evaluation and consult with a virtual doctor.
The virtual doctor works with medical care providers on the field. If necessary, a patient could also be transferred to another installation, Pelley said. If the weather made it impossible to transfer a patient, he said they would remain in place.
“The staff in that installation would attend them, which is often a registered nurse or a regional registered nurse, and would have that virtual support until it was a safe access or transport,” Pelley said.
The vice president of medical services, Dr. Gena Budgen, says that the health authority has “quite successful” with recruitment doctors. She said that around 200 doctors have been recruited since the four health authorities of the province were amalgamated in April 2023.
“Our recruitment program and our withholding program is quite strong and we are quite proud of the advances we have made. Newfoundland and Labrador is a very attractive place to work for doctors and we have a lot to offer in this beautiful province,” Budgen said .
Bugden says NLHS is actively looking for a medical position in Forteau.
“Virtual emergency rooms have been quite successful, not only emergency rooms, but also the main attention offers also increased our service in person,” he said.
Bugden says he knows that there are still some situations that require a doctor to be on the site, but there are others that can be done well virtually.
“Our intention is to continue looking for a long -term recruitment perspective for the Forteau Center. And we are also looking for more local and long term Locum opportunities,” he said.
Unhappy residents
The mayor of Forteau, Dean Flynn, says that going without a doctor on the field is a problem for the region.
“We have been very concerned about what we believe is a degradation of services in our health center in Labrador Straits,” said Flynn.
He says he has been in contact with Health Minister John Hogan, the Mha Lisa Dempter region and representatives of the NLHS Labrador-Grenfell zone.
The residents, says Flynn, are not happy with the movement.
“Virtual attention is not adequate. If we have a serious accident in that area, we will not be able to handle it,” he said.
Flynn wants a memorandum of understanding with a hospital in Quebec, about 30 minutes but with five doctors, to regularly see Labrador patients. He tells him that the lack of a doctor adds more stress to nurses who work in Forteau and that will make them leave.
“They are very good nurses, but they are not trained to deal with multiple victims,” he said.
NLHS told Flynn that the first doctor would be hired is Julio.
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