When Nova Scotia resident Jennifer Young was in labour earlier this summer, she asked her husband as he sped down the highway whether he had looked up instructions on how to deliver a baby.
That鈥檚 because Young鈥檚 local emergency room in Shelburne was temporarily closed, and the nearest open urgent care centre was more than 100 kilometres away in the Town of Bridgewater.
鈥淲hen you have to ask your husband on the way to Bridgewater, speeding in a rainstorm, if he鈥檚 taken the time to YouTube how to deliver a baby, there鈥檚 something wrong with our health care system,鈥� Young says.
It wasn鈥檛 the last time the Youngs have been frustrated by the ER closures. Their three-year-old son recently had seizures and needed emergency care, but their local emergency room was again closed when they needed it.
Young鈥檚 husband, Nolan Young, says rural residents鈥� health is at risk due to the distance they need to travel for health care. 鈥淓very Nova Scotian deserves to have the same equal access to help,鈥� he says.
The Youngs鈥� story is just one of many being shared on the Facebook page The common theme is frustration at the provincial government鈥檚 decision to close some ERs at certain times of the day.
It鈥檚 not just Shelburne. On Monday, the the Glace Bay Hospital鈥檚 ER will be closed nightly from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m. between Tuesday and Friday 鈥渄ue to the unavailability of physicians to cover the shifts.鈥�
That鈥檚 on top of a closure at the Eastern Shore Memorial Hospital in Sheet Harbour, which shut its doors Friday and at 8 a.m., also 鈥渄ue to lack of physician coverage.鈥�
There are also in Parrsboro, Pugwash and Springhill this week. the ER will be closed overnight for all of August and September, according to the health authority.
Kevin Chapman, from the advocacy group Doctors Nova Scotia, says there just aren鈥檛 enough primary care resources from the province.
鈥淎 lot of the family physicians in Amherst have actually been closing their practices during the day in order to try to staff the emergency room,鈥� Chapman said.
The Nova Scotia Health Authority said no one was available Monday for an interview but sent a statement that said, in part, 鈥淭here is ongoing planning to evolve toward a provincial emergency system of care that will include various levels of emergency departments with varying response capacities, connected through telemedicine and the high quality ground and air ambulance service.鈥�
The health authority says anyone with urgent medical needs should call 9-1-1.
With a report from CTV Atlantic鈥檚 Laura Brown
