New staff for Sir Thomas Roddick

Western Health announced last week its efforts to recruit new doctors for Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital have been successful.

An obstetrician/ gynecologist and an anesthetist have been hired to work from the Stephenville hospital, as well as additional nursing staff.

Dr. Ken Jenkins, vice president of medical services for Western Health, says the anesthetist is expected to begin in the not too distant future and the obstetrician/ gynecologist sometime in October.

Dr. Jenkins anticipates that once the obstetrician/ gynecologist starts, the hospital will be able to resume some obstetric services including births.

We dont anticipate that one person is on call 24/7, so we expect there will be times, particularly after hours, when there would have to be some backup provided through the regional referral centre in Corner Brook, he says.

Western Health also announced last week the formation of a surgical services working group.

It will be tasked with assessing and evaluating the surgical services to be offered in the region. They will identify the resource requirements for those services and report their findings to the CEO of Western Health.

The group will include Dr. Alan McComisky, chief of staff at Sir Thomas Roddick; Karen Alexander, Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital site director; and Dr. Minnie Wasmeier, who represents secondary services at both Sir Thomas Roddick and Western Memorial.

Dr. Jenkins says Sir Thomas Roddick Hospitals new CT Scan machine was the result of similar strategic planning, along with input from community stakeholders and those who lobbied for the machine.

What were planning to do now is apply the same logic and reason to the development of surgical services for the region and come up with a solid plan to present to our funders, the department of health and to government.

Dr. Jenkins says Western Healths hope is that it will be easier to recruit and fill future vacant positions in the future, if the committee is able to get the necessary supports and equipment for physicians put in place.

Vacancies remain for a radiologist and another obstetrician/ gynecologist for the Stephenville hospital, and Dr. Jenkins says they are actively trying to fill those positions, as well.

Dr. Minnie Wasmeier, chief operating officer of secondary services for Western Health says a nurse from out of province has started at Sir Thomas Roddick recently, and two more are scheduled to start in the Fall.

Dr. Wasmeier says while its a start, theyre still looking to recruit more.

Our staffing analysis indicates six nursing positions are vacant, but in operations we believe we need more than that because of peak times, she says. So the six nurses might give us an okay, but we would like to see more nurses than that.

Laura Aylward, Stephenville town councillor and member of the West Coast Health Care Action Committee, welcomes the news about the new medical staff, but cautions the need for more nurses for both the local hospital and the Bay St. George Long Term Care Centre.

In the summertime its really prominent because nurses are on holidays and theres no backups. So if anybody gets sick, well, it puts the hospital and the home in a real bind, she says.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses Union issued a press release last week stating the Intensive Care Unit at Sir Thomas Roddick was temporarily closed on the weekend from 3:30 on July 18 to July 21. They said any patients needing ICU admission during this time were sent to Western Memorial Regional Hospital in Corner Brook.

The nurses union claims the ICU closure was due to a lack of qualified nursing staff.