A local volunteer committee says its efforts to recruit health-care workers for the Sackville Memorial Hospital are paying off.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The hospital\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
In December 2021, Horizon health authority also converted all acute-care beds at the hospital into long-term care, citing the nurse shortage.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, John Higham \u2014 who co-chairs the committee with Pat Estabrooks, both of them former Sackville mayors \u2014 presented figures that showed improved staffing numbers.<\/p>\n
Higham also confirmed that a highly anticipated return of acute-care beds will happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to note that the inpatient services are coming back,\u201d Higham said. \u201cMajor investment in two operating rooms was announced last week, that\u2019s significant.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be aligned with the waiting list for the region on operations, which is what we\u2019ve also talked to [Horizon] about for quite a while, the Brunswick beds are turning back into inpatients.\u201d<\/p>\n
Improved staff vacancy rates in that unit were also noted in background documents circulated among Sackville town councillors.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn January, the vacancy rate was 70 percent; as of November it is 30 percent,\u201d one document states.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Higham said the group wanted to make sure everyone\u2019s up-to-date about the situation, including candidates in the planned Nov. 28 municipal election and the general public.<\/p>\n
He said the volunteer-run Rural Health Action Group operated with no money, mandate or direct accountability and suggested a potential formal structure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an opportunity now to create a structure that gives the community a voice in the governance of health services,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be a big one,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has to be a voice that\u2019s community accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n
In July, Premier Blaine Higgs dissolved the partially-elected boards of Horizon and Vitalit\u00e9, replacing them with trustees.<\/p>\n