Doctor Shortage: A special Report
Glen Vienneau
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Jun 28/00) - This is a personal observation of events that occurred in the emergency unit at Stanton Regional Hospital on the weekend of June 17. The staff say it was not a typical weekend, which is normally busier than when I visited.
 Kelsey Pike of B.C. waits for a doctor in the emergency room following a basketball injury -- Glen Vienneau/NNSL photo |
Locums are doctors from the south who fill in temporarily for vacated positions or cover for holidays. During any given month, between 16 and 25 per cent of emergency room shifts are covered by locum doctors. In Yellowknife, two resident general practitioners provide services.
Saturday evening June 17, the emergency room, Stanton Regional Hospital.
7:30 p.m. -- Three patients in the waiting room as the nurses went through a shift change.
The nurses were setting up the nine patient rooms and checking the equipment for the new shift. Several beds were occupied by patients.
One female patient in the waiting room had a sore knee which she said started to bother her four days earlier. She had an clinic appointment for the following Friday but thought it was too long a wait.
8:00 p.m. -- Four people in the waiting room. Dr. Don Belbin of Wallaceburg, Ont., was taking over the shift from Dr. Roger Lake, from Prince George, B.C. Both are locum doctors. The incoming doctor is briefed on patient conditions.
The emergency unit is staffed by one doctor on a 12 hour shift, one beginning at 8:00 p.m. and the other at 8:00 a.m.
Nurse Candy Grimm said police had a zero tolerance approach to partying during Raven Mad Daze and that probably explained the light patient load. She added that staff are busiest on weekends and Mondays after parents pick up their children from daycares and schools.
Dr. Lake grabbed his gym bag while eating a piece of pizza, thinking he's done work. Right away, he got a call to attend another patient elsewhere in the hospital and headed to the elevator.
8:15 p.m. -- After sitting in the waiting room for three and one half hours, Mila Vendiola of Yellowknife got called in to see the doctor.
8:20 p.m. -- Three people are in the waiting room.
9:15 p.m. -- One female walked into the emergency reception at and is admitted immediately.
9:20 p.m. -- A male patient who entered the waiting room said it was an emergency matter and 10 minutes later he was
called in to see the doctor.
10:30 p.m. -- Two patients remained in the waiting room.
Sunday, June 18 at 4:00 p.m. Five people in the waiting room including one child.
One man who had been assaulted was bleeding from gashes on his forehead. A nurse said it looked like he needed stitches.
The man commended the work of the doctors and nurses, saying he was more concerned for children and seniors who had to wait than for himself.
4:10 p.m -- One lady hooked up with an IV took a seat in the waiting room. An elderly couple arrived at the emergency reception but left without seeing the doctor.
4:15 p.m. -- A lady walked in from a rollover truck accident. With no rooms left, nurses immediately sat her in wheelchair and brought her in the emergency area hallway.
Another young man in the waiting room was experiencing unbearable stomach pains and wanted to leave but his girlfriend convinced him to stay.
7:55 p.m. -- Three people were in the waiting room, including one child. The young man with the stomach pains had been checked in.
One person in a wheelchair had been waiting for almost three hours and complained of being tired and hungry. While he felt too many children were being brought in with minor coughs and sniffles, he also said he sympathized with the children and seniors who had to wait.
A mother from Rankin Inlet had been in the waiting room since 6:30 p.m. with her child. She was in Yellowknife for the Raven Mad Daze when the child fell ill. She said it would be three or four weeks to see a doctor at a clinic in Rankin Inlet so she decided to take advantage of the shorter wait at Stanton.
8:30 p.m. -- Eight people, including three children, in the waiting room. One female with a foot injury hopped down the hallway to go home.
Kelsey Pike of B.C. came in with a basketball injury. Using his First Aid skills, he had wrapped his ankle before arriving at the hospital.
9:00 p.m. -- A couple with two children walked in. Shortly after, another father brought in his child suffering stomach pain. He said: "Any wait is too long," adding it would take weeks for a clinic appointment.
Monday, June 19, 5:40 p.m. -- Two people in the waiting room. One young man had been waiting for two hours and was not pleased. The other was a young woman with an infected bug bite on her leg.
6:10 p.m. -- The young man got in to see the doctor. He was soon out, astonished by the long wait for a 10 minute doctor visit.
6:12 p.m. -- The young woman is brought to see the doctor about her leg.
6:15 p.m. -- A woman who had arrived on her own at 6:00 p.m. got in to see a doctor.
