OXBOW — The latest effort to improve health-care services in Oxbow involves trying to upgrade the Galloway Health Centre to hospital status.
A group in the community has been formed to lobby the Ministry of Health about becoming a hospital. RM of Enniskillen chief administrative officer Pamela Bartlett said they want to be able to provide acute care services.
Citing the health centre's website, Bartlett said the health centre has a "robust" emergency room, eight temporary care beds and 12 long-term care beds.
"Those eight temporary care beds mean that they are unable to provide care for somebody longer than 24 hours," Bartlett said in an interview with the Mercury and SaskToday. "When somebody goes in there … if that person needs IV or antibiotics, they can stay under observation for 24 hours. If they still need those IV or antibiotics longer than that, they need to be transferred to another facility."
St. Joseph's Hospital in Estevan, the Arcola Health Centre and the Redvers Health Centre are the nearest facilities.
Palliative, respite, overnight, convalescent and rehabilitative care, along with an adult day program, are covered under the temporary care beds. Any type of acute care has to be transferred to another facility with a hospital distinction.
As recently as a few weeks ago, the Oxbow group had been told there would be no changes to the health centre's status, as the ministry believed the facility was meeting the needs of the community in its present form. But since that time, the Oxbow area group has been told the ministry would look into the matter. They also had a phone call with Estevan MLA Lori Carr, whose cabinet minister duties includes Rural and Remote Health.
"What they have asked is for SHA to provide all the options that are required and needed to be able to provide acute care services, and what it would take to move that forward, whether it's going to be a change of designation, whether it's going to be an increase of staff – what that looks like, they're hoping to have all of this information in January," said Bartlett.
A meeting is expected to take place in January with community representatives to relay a plan.
"No promises have been made at this time, but we're very hopeful that a resolution will soon be reached," said Bartlett.
Carr said the Oxbow group had asked to meet with her in person to discuss their concerns.
"What I had already done earlier in the week was I had asked the SHA to gather the information for me to understand why it's not the designation of a hospital like they would like [in Oxbow], what is outstanding and what may need to be done so I can understand," said Carr.
She wants to know if it's a matter of staffing, equipment or another issue.
"I think they have a very fair request as to what they're looking for, and something as to what rural Saskatchewan is looking for, and to try to find a way to make it work, that's going to be my goal," she said.
Staffing has been a much-discussed topic at the Galloway Health Centre the past couple of years. Numerous service disruptions have occurred. Bartlett said this is a different matter all together, as the focus is to land acute care services.
"A service disruption can come from a number of different factors," said Bartlett. "Staffing is one of them. When the doctors are on holidays or at training, that can trigger service disruptions. However, we have seen less service disruptions since Oxbow was added to be able to have the RNs receive extra [graduate] funding."
During the Christmas break, Oxbow will have access to the virtual physician model, which Bartlett said would alleviate service disruptions.
"The current and new manager is working very hard to ensure staffing rates are at capacity to alleviate as many service disruptions as possible," she said.
Bartlett noted that although Galloway was not designated a hospital, it had acute care services until less than a year ago, when there was a change in how beds were allocated.
The Oxbow situation was addressed in the Saskatchewan legislature on Dec. 9, when the opposition NDP squared off with the government on health-care issues impacting smaller communities. NDP Leader Carla Beck pointed out Oxbow's health facility has the necessary staff needed to deliver care at home.
“But Oxbow residents, the mayor, and health-care workers report that they have to transport patients to Estevan, Arcola, Regina, sometimes even Swift Current, and often by ambulance. Mr. Speaker, there seems to be a simple fix. Why won't the premier listen to the local people of Oxbow and ensure they can get the care that they need at home?” Beck said in the legislature.
Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill did not rule out the possibility of expanding health services in Oxbow because of the staffing available.
“We will absolutely be working with the community of Oxbow to understand what their current services are. But I would just say that whenever we expand services, we want to make sure that that's sustainable into the future,” said Cockrill.
He said that “if there is an opportunity to have some predictability around staffing over the long run in that community, we'd look at expanding services.”
Bartlett sent a letter saying that since December 2023, Galloway Health Centre has filled four permanent RN positions and three licensed practical nurse (LPN) roles, and has increased the casual pool.
Through the rural stabilization program, there has been extra shift lines granted to have overlapping shifts which these lines are slowly being filled. There is a draw to Galloway Health Centre for LPNs throughout the area as LPNs at Galloway Health Centre are working to their full scope of practice with emergency patients, which has occurred as a result of the reintegration.
"Both SHA and the ministry have allocated many resources to rural sites such as Oxbow to stabilize the services, i.e., the additional nursing positions through the ER stabilization plan, the rural health professional incentives."
