A local volunteer committee says its efforts to recruit health-care workers for the Sackville Memorial Hospital are paying off.

The Rural Health Action Group updated town councillors on a partnership with the regional health authority on Tuesday, and suggested their grassroots approach could become a model for other communities.

The hospital’s emergency department has been operating 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. following service cuts linked to widespread labour shortages in the health-care sector.

In December 2021, Horizon health authority also converted all acute-care beds at the hospital into long-term care, citing the nurse shortage.

On Tuesday, John Higham — who co-chairs the committee with Pat Estabrooks, both of them former Sackville mayors — presented figures that showed improved staffing numbers.

Higham also confirmed that a highly anticipated return of acute-care beds will happen.

“It’s important to note that the inpatient services are coming back,” Higham said. “Major investment in two operating rooms was announced last week, that’s significant.

“It’s going to be aligned with the waiting list for the region on operations, which is what we’ve also talked to [Horizon] about for quite a while, the Brunswick beds are turning back into inpatients.”

Improved staff vacancy rates in that unit were also noted in background documents circulated among Sackville town councillors.

“In January, the vacancy rate was 70 percent; as of November it is 30 percent,” one document states.

Other highlights included three staff who returned following leaves of absence; the hiring of two Registered Nurses; two new grads brought into permanent full-time positions; and the filling of all Licensed Practical Nurses positions.

Higham said the group wanted to make sure everyone’s up-to-date about the situation, including candidates in the planned Nov. 28 municipal election and the general public.

He said the volunteer-run Rural Health Action Group operated with no money, mandate or direct accountability and suggested a potential formal structure.

“There’s an opportunity now to create a structure that gives the community a voice in the governance of health services,” he said.

“It doesn’t have to be a big one,” he said. “It has to be a voice that’s community accountable.”

In July, Premier Blaine Higgs dissolved the partially-elected boards of Horizon and Vitalité, replacing them with trustees.

This week, provincial Liberal Party leader Susan Holt said during a visit to Sackville that she supports the decentralization of healthcare, local journalist Bruce Wark reported.

“I think we need to create structures that empower local people to make decisions that affect their local services, including hospitals,” Holt said.

Listen to highlights from the Rural Health Action Group’s Nov. 8, 2022 presentation at Sackville town council: