Misericordia urgent care to close some nights because of staffing, leaked memo says

Winnipeg'sMisericordia Urgent Care Centre could be closed overnight this summer because of staff shortages, according to a leaked internal memo.

The NDP are sounding the alarm after receiving a letter signed by Misericordiachief medical officer Dr. John Reda.

"We are very concerned about this," said NDP health critic Matt Wiebe.

"We are very concerned that this represents a loss of service for the community and it represents just the tip of the iceberg of some of the chaos that we can expect in the health-care system as these changes are rolled out."

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Two months ago, sweeping changes to Winnipeg's emergency departments were announced, including closing Misericordia's 24-hour urgent care clinic to convert it to a community intravenous therapy clinic. Those changes were supposed to be rolled out over six months to two years, but staff were warned to expect some changes this summer.

The letter, allegedly from Reda, said "the [WinnipegRegional Health Authority] ER consolidation and clinical restructuring has caused a lot of recent staff movement throughout sites, and MHC's Urgent Care is no exception.

"Summers are difficult to staff at the best of times and, looking ahead, it appears it will become close to impossible to fully staff Urgent Care."

It said the urgent care centre will redirect new patients from 10 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. startingas soonas June 19.

"This is Pallistercare: try not to get sick after 12:30 at night. This is Pallistercare: you go to a hospital and you may be turned away," said MLA for Fort Rouge Wab Kinew.

Lori Lamont, vice-president and chief nursing officer with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, said she was disappointed at the language in the letter and was concerned the notification may impact public confidence and "create fear."

"We are concerned and dismayed about some of the language used in this, solely tying it to the consolidation of services," she said, adding there wasn't a time frame for consolidation yet.

She said the urgent care clinic is still open, but only when staffing is short will they consider redirecting patients on a case-by-case basis.

"The number of people presenting to Misericordia after midnight is a very small number of people. There are approximately, on average, one new patient an hour," she said.

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Lamont added that staffing during summer is always difficult, although she admitted there had been some movement by people concerned about the future of their positions.

"Our announced changes did make staff think about, 'Should I be looking for something sooner rather than later?'" Lamont said, adding the WRHA is working with unions to help staff who want to transition.

"We heard from staff that they were anxious about what the future would hold for them, given the changes that were announced," she added.

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The upcoming closures of three emergency rooms, and ultimately the urgent care clinic at Misericordia, are controversial and political. But Lamont hopes the changes don't become so political that the public gets confused about where to go and when.

"It can be irresponsible to be playing some of this out in the public and leaving people with the impression that services are not available when if fact they are."

In an emailed statement, Health Minister Kelvin Goertzenreiterated that summer is a challenging time for staffing.

"As a matter of course, facilities undertake contingency planning to ensure the availability of safe care," he said.

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