St. John Hospital in Vanderhoof is experiencing more patient visits and longer waiting room lineups in the wake of a doctor shortage that has closed the hospital emergency room in Fort St. James.
Some patients looking for refills of certain types of medication at the Vanderhoof hospital are being turned away and they are finding it difficult to access doctors since the emergency ward at Stuart Lake Hospital in Fort St. James became a weekend-only operation two weeks ago.
"Anyone presenting to the emergency department who has run out of a critical drug like blood pressure medication or epileptic medication will be looked after because it's in the best interests of keeping them healthy, but they will not fill narcotic prescriptions," said April Hughes, Northern Health's health services administrator for Lakes-Omenica.
The outpatient clinic in Fort St. James remains open and is trying to deal with follow-up visits to allow patients to receive minor procedures, intravenous medications, or have stitches or casts removed. Paul Stent, the only remaining Fort St. James doctor, is offering a prescription clinic at his Fort St. James office from 1-5 p.m. on Wednesdays and also books same-day appointments.
Northern Health has hired a consultant to examine how to improve health care delivery at the Fort St. James clinic, which is owned by Stent. One option would be to have Northern Health take over management of the clinic. The other model being considered would be to turn the operation over to a local service group.
See Friday's Citizen for more
