Misunderstood emails from WRHA springs panic among physicians

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This article was published 17/07/2017 (3011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority sought to quell fears Monday that physician hours would be reduced at hospital ERs and urgent-care centres after a recent notice sent to doctors was misconstrued.

In a time of upheaval and uncertainty, brought on by a massive reorganization of hospital services by the Manitoba government under Premier Brian Pallister, some physicians working in Winnipeg emergency rooms and urgent-care centres wrongly believed they would have to reapply for their jobs.

What was really happening is physicians at community hospitals such as Grace and Seven Oaks were receiving notice, according to their collective agreement, about upcoming staff changes due to the planned closure of the Misericordia Urgent Care Centre this fall and the transition, at the same time, of Victoria General Hospital’s emergency room to an urgent-care centre.

Goertzen told reporters late Monday there would be no reduction in “doctor’s services” as a result of the planned changes.

“The hours will remain the same. They’re just going to be provided in a different place,” he said.

In April, the province and the WRHA announced Concordia Hospital’s emergency room would close, the Misericordia urgent-care centre would be converted into a facility specializing in intravenous services and Victoria’s and Seven Oaks’ ERs would become urgent-care centres.

Dr. Brock Wright, senior vice-president and chief medical officer with the WRHA, also offered assurances Monday physician hours would not be cut — simply redirected in what administrators say will be a more efficient and effective manner.

“The communications were not as crisp and clear as they should have been,” Wright said, referring to emailed notices ER and urgent-care doctors received recently that led to the confusion.

Doctors Manitoba, which negotiates and lobbies on behalf of the province’s physicians, also sought confirmation Monday from the WRHA that ER doctors at Victoria, Seven Oaks and Grace Hospital would not have to reapply for their jobs.

Wright said that was not the case, nor was it ever the WRHA’s intention.

He said the WRHA was giving notice to doctors the equivalent of seven full-time physician positions at Misericordia would be eliminated this fall. The health authority is asking the affected full-time and part-time doctors to let them know by July 25 about where they might wish to work in the system.

At the same time, some ER doctors at Victoria may want to pick up hours in other emergency rooms when the ER there is converted into an urgent-care facility this fall. That will mean that there may be a need to fill some urgent-care physician spaces at Victoria.

When Concordia loses its ER next spring, emergency room physicians there will be given the opportunity to transfer mainly to Health Sciences Centre and St. Boniface Hospital, and, to a lesser extent, Grace, Wright said.

He said there will be no reduction in physician hours at either Victoria or Seven Oaks when their ERs become urgent-care centres. But physicians accustomed to working in an ER may want to spent at least some of their time working at the remaining emergency rooms at Health Sciences Centre, St. Boniface or Grace.

While any doctor working in an ER would be able to easily step into an urgent-care centre — which deals with less serious health problems — some long-time urgent-care doctors may feel uncomfortable or lack the skills to transfer to an ER, Wright said.

Wright said the system will work with these physicians to find a proper place for them.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca