While Queens just lost a long serving doctor, it was recently announced the area would lose one of its younger doctors as well, which is causing some worries over Liverpool’s ER.
Dr. David Gunn and his family moved to Australia last year, with the intention of returning to Queens but have recently decided to stay permanently.
That, along with Dr. Garry Morash’s recent retirement has left the area with thousands of patients on the provincial waiting list.
Dr. Norah Mogan is head of Queens General Hospital medical staff.
She says Dr. Morash likely had nearly 4,000 patients, though she doesn’t have an exact number.
Our newsroom reached out to the Nova Scotia Health Authority to confirm those numbers but did not receive a response.
“People who are used to being able to access a family doctor will find they’ll have to use the ER for simple things like prescription refills,” says Dr. Mogan.
Two doctors will set up shop in the area in September but it’s unlikely they’ll be able to take on Morash’s entire practice, says Mogan.
Queens’ physicians also share the responsibility of keeping the ER open – they all take shifts at Queens General and have an agreement whereby if there’s a major emergency, everyone will come to the hospital.
They now have to supplement their ER schedule with doctors from outside Queens, which then takes away coverage in those areas.
Mogan is worried about what could happen in a major crisis and about staff getting stretched too thin.
She says not only will the hospital see an influx of patients from the recent physician departures, they also contend with patients from Shelburne due to the closures at Roseway Hospital’s ER.
“We’re finding that people are going to have to wait longer and approximately half of the people I saw on my last call shift were from the Shelburne area because the Roseway was closed.”
That’s something that’s weighing on the mind of Queens-Shelburne MLA Kim Masland.
A recent fentanyl overdose occurred while Roseway Hospital’s ER was closed.
That sent several people to Liverpool and Bridgewater hospitals.
Masland says she’s been worried about hospital staffing issues since coming into office.
“What if we’re in a serious situation where we need to access an ER immediately, not 45 minutes away, or 50 minutes away to Yarmouth, sadly, we’re in that situation,” says Masland.
She says she’s also concerned with Emergency Health Services coverage.
Masland is sending a letter to Health and Wellness Minister Randy Delorey in hopes of addressing staffing issues.
Story and photo by Brittany Wentzell
@BrittWentzell
