The South Bruce Grey Health Centre (SBGHC) has been granted funding to help prevent emergency room closures for the short term.
"The South Bruce Grey Health Centre continues to look at innovative ways to stabilize staffing across all four of our sites," said Nancy Shaw, SBGHC president and CEO. "Some of those ways consists of working with our government partners and looking at funding opportunities to help support agency nurses in the short term as we work towards a longer-term solution."
The money will fund agency staff, which are healthcare professionals from private companies contracted to work out of SBGHC's hospitals. But, Shaw stresses agency staffing is only a short-term solution.
"Right now, you can see the impact it has made on our ER closures," she said. "Certainly there are very few now, thanks to this additional funding."
As of yet, there is no plan for the long-term.
"It's not an easy fix," said Shaw. "It's a complex situation with many dimensions and we continue to look at a solution that will fit for our communities in order to continue to provide care and emergency care access across all four of our sites."
Shaw said access to care remains a top priority for SBGHC and the centre wants to work collaboratively to find the solution.
