Plaster Rock residents to seek out doctors
Published Wednesday August 6th, 2008
"It took God seven days (to make the world), so give us a couple of weeks!"
Dan Briggs, chairman of the recruiting committee seeking physicians for Tobique Valley Hospital (TVH), was encouraging about 200 Plaster Rock area residents who attended a public meeting on July 23.
"I'm confident that, in a month's time, we should have things in order," he said.
Residents filled the seats at the Tobique Lions Community Centre to hear the latest developments in the quest to restore the emergency department at TVH.
Huge public opposition has followed the sudden removal of emergency services and inpatient beds on July 1. Health Minister Mike Murphy and other health department officials met with village council and members of a physician recruitment committee on July 16 and witnessed a public rally in support of the hospital. Briggs said he thinks the minister had his eyes opened to some harsh truths about how River Valley Health has handled the situation.
"We could see it on his face," Briggs said, praising committee members and the public for their actions at the rally. "We did a good job there, and I think that really set the stage for how we can move forward."
Mayor Judy St. Peter and Briggs affirmed the health minister has said if the community can find physicians and come up with a workable plan to operate its emergency department, he will consider re-instating it.
"We won't accept failure," Briggs confirmed. "And I do feel optimistic. We think we can come up with solutions."
A petition asking for services to be re-instated at TVH is circulating and already has hundreds of names. At the suggestion of people at the meeting, the petition will go not only to the minister of health but also the provincial ombudsman.
When a few members of the audience suggested there should be demonstrations and action instead of meetings about the hospital issue, Briggs cautioned they must pursue doctors first.
"We need physicians and they aren't there right now," he noted. "Burning tires in the middle of the road? We can't make a doctor out of the smoke."
Briggs noted the community needs at least two physicians to join Dr. Barry Wecker and newcomer Dr. Romesh Sharma who, contrary to what River Valley Health has said, is willing to help out in providing emergency care. Briggs said Tobique Valley may need additional help during vacation time, but there are visiting doctors who are still willing to provide service. The goal is to have a doctor either on-site at the hospital or on-call 24 hours a day.
Briggs said the recruitment committee is following up on every name of a physician or friend or relative of a physician that might consider coming to Plaster Rock.
"There are five or six people we're chasing right now," he said. "They might all be no's; we don't know at this point, but, if we can't get a commitment, we ask them to give us another name or two names."
Briggs said, in working with Dr. Wecker and Dr. Sharma, the committee is confident it can come up with a model of care that will work not only for Plaster Rock, but may stand as an example to other communities as well.
Mayor Judy St. Peter noted the community's willingness to work hard to find physicians and solve its own problems hasn't gone unnoticed by the government.
"Because of that, we've developed a bit of respect," the mayor said.
Dr. Wecker noted River Valley Health's claim that it has worked to recruit doctors to the area but has been unable to find them is not true.
Wecker said, at the meeting last Wednesday, he asked Dr. Larry Kennedy, MLA for Victoria-Tobique and a physician in Perth-Andover, how many doctors River Valley Health has recruited for the local area and his answer was "none."
"I said, 'OK, who has recruited all your physicians for Perth?' He said, 'we have,'" Dr. Wecker recalled. "I said, 'I rest my case.' River Valley Health does not do physician recruitment, and, if they do, they do it for Fredericton; they do not do it for Plaster Rock and so we need to be involved in physician recruitment."
Dr. Wecker said local people are the best ones to promote the benefits of living and working on the Tobique.
"We are the best people to sell our community," he said.
Dr. Wecker gave residents the historical perspective on how the situation at TVH has developed. He noted the approaching retirement of Dr. Henry Litz was no surprise as he had already stayed on longer than he originally intended. He was willing to stay longer and help out with the current situation, but River Valley Health turned him down, said Dr. Wecker. Dr. Asaf Daudi's departure was also initiated by the administration.
"Her contract was cancelled by River Valley Health. They did not renew it," Dr. Wecker said. "She would still come over one day a week if she was allowed to."
The decision by Dr. Mary Pedersen to join the military meant three physicians were leaving at approximately the same time. Dr. Wecker said he offered to temporarily provide service four days a week if the region could arrange Friday, Saturday and Sunday coverage, but they refused.
Contact with Dr. Sharma, who originally wanted to come to the region four years ago, was reinitiated and the physician agreed he could be in Plaster Rock on July 1. Dr. Wecker said he understood Dr. Sharma was willing to be on-call two nights a week until a third doctor was found. However, the region disagreed.
"They said he wouldn't do call and therefore they were closing the hospital," Dr. Wecker commented. "I was stunned. I said, 'Are you sure he said that?'"
Dr. Wecker and members of the recruitment committee are now sure Dr. Sharma is willing to be part of the proactive approach to re-opening the emergency department. Luckily, Dr. Wecker said, the days of River Valley Health are numbered as Region 3 ceases to exist on Sept. 1 and Plaster Rock becomes part of a new system that will be administered from the Miramichi.
Until the emergency department can be re-opened, Dr. Wecker noted he and Dr. Sharma are taking on new patients and will "continue to provide as much care as we can." He noted the model of a walk-in clinic where people can receive 24-hour nursing care at the hospital is suited to big cities but not rural communities. Medications can't be administered to patients without a doctor's orders, he noted, and as one nurse in the audience commented, they can't even give someone with chest pain an aspirin.
"If they bring their own nitro and their own aspirin, then they can take it themselves, but we can't give it to them," it was commented.
Dr. Wecker described the hospital as being mortuary-like and said 50 per cent of the staff has received pink slips and will be out of work as of Aug. 8.
"They've cut people that we need in the hospital," Dr. Wecker said. "The nurses that are there are in a difficult situation. So remember them. Remember all the people who have lost their jobs."
One former clerical worker, who served the hospital for 20 years, said she never knew her boss at River Valley Health, but she would have appreciated some direct contact from that person in being let go. However, she received none. The former employee deplored the fact that patients are being instructed to go to Perth-Andover for services that could be performed in Plaster Rock.
Dr. Wecker and Briggs stressed it is important Plaster Rock-area residents continue to use and support the services that are available in their community as well as the professional staff. Preventative health care is important in retaining services as it demonstrates they are needed.
"I'd like to see 300 people get a medical in the next two days," Briggs joked.
On the issue of ambulance service, Dr. Wecker praised the valiant efforts of EMTs in caring for people but noted no matter where the ambulance is parked, it can't provide the same level of care as an emergency room.
Seven people often work on a patient suffering a medical emergency, he said, and it isn't possible for one EMT to do the same thing in the back of an ambulance on a bumpy road. The community is supposed to receive a second ambulance at some point in the future, he noted.
People at the meeting were encouraged to forward their comments and ideas on physician recruitment to members of the committee.
Français: Suite à la perte de services d'urgence à leur hôpital, les résidents de la région de Plaster Rock et les fonctionnaires poursuivront les efforts afin de recruter de nouveaux médecins pour le village.
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