Canso Stakeholder Working Group

SUSAN'S NOTES FROM TODAY'S MEETING. (UNAPPROVED) Nursing - Only 0.3 perm/part time open now not returning to be posted. 1 RN returning in Dec. and 1 retiring in 2021. Closure yesterday and tonight because 3 new RN’s not ER trained. Training for them is ongoing. Physicians - Dr. Milbourne was here regularly during the summer. Dr. Dobeck has stepped up and covered extra weeks. Dr. Felderhof is still here for one week a month. Youth member not on the phone today A...ngela will follow up with him to see if he’s available for the next meeting. The work on Long Term Planning for Health Care has begun and we will be asked for input when they are ready. This is a very important step in our future. Summer went well with the COVID Pandemic. Lots of planning/work is ongoing. Testing available 3 days a week in Canso. Looking at alternative options for clinics. Rhonda has offered to come back casual to work on the testing here and in Guysborough if needed. Updated everyone on the Welcoming Community. The 3 RN’s were very pleased and thankful for their Baskets. Susan will send out the final copy of the brochure to the committee. Keeping an eye opened on new housing options. With the COVID issues it has been difficult to do many of the things for our Grant. Working with Bill F and Mike H on the Website development. Lions Club may be available for distancing meetings. That would make things easier. Guysborough Group has established themselves regarding Physician Recruitment. Contact information to be provided if our area wants to participate. Janet volunteered to follow up on this. Physician Recruitment personnel will attend our next meeting. Leona read a one pager to the group which explained what the NSHA Physician Recruitment has been doing and that will be circulated. Rhonda MDOG has a fund ($10,000) for physician recruitment and wondered if is this for both areas. Janet said it was and she will supply the ‘conditions’ required by the Hospital Foundation. Buzz requested Janet check to see if this can apply to a Dentist as well. She’ll get back to him. Angela should the NSHA be advertising this? Janet feels this could be added. Angela will contact the MDOG CEO for info. A link to the incentive should be included in the recruiting information. Susan asked if the Group would be interested in working with the local health professionals (all encompassing) to help be a voice. She will send an email to the Group and those who are local and want to participate can get back to her. Susan will hopefully be able to set up a time for the Group to meet with Dr. Kathy and then develop a plan going forward. Janet - MDOG meeting with the NSHA yesterday. She feels we will be working on this for the ‘long haul.’ Janet says don’t relax on this issue. There are many challenges. Next Meeting will be Oct 5th @ 315pm @ the Lions’ Club.

Our new brochure is now available. It looks fantastic!!!

Well Covid-19 is making it hard to meet the goals of the Grant we received. It was supposed to allow us to do community events to welcome our new nurses. We were to hold a Planning Session to work on goals for the next 3-5 years as a community and much more. Ugh! If we ever get "back to normal" we will do these things. I just thought I'd mention it so that everyone knows we haven't forgotten these things, just are not able to do them at this time.

Guysborough Journal newspaper 1 hr Nova Scotia Health announces short-term plan for EDs in Guysborough, Canso... Nova Scotia Health is advising the public of its short-term plan for the operations of the emergency departments at Guysborough Memorial Hospital and Eastern Memorial Hospital in Canso. Following discussions with the nursing staff and physicians who provide coverage at these emergency departments, there has been agreement that there will be a return to 24 hrs/day, seven days a week operations over the next few weeks daily at Eastern Memorial Hospital and on intermittent days at Guysborough Memorial Hospital. At Eastern Memorial Hospital in Canso, the emergency department will be open 24 hours daily starting tomorrow (Thursday) and will continue to operate 24/7 until July 27. At Guysborough Memorial Hospital, the emergency department will close overnight tomorrow (Thursday) as had been previously announced. However, the emergency department will operate 24 hrs/day over the weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday). The emergency will close at 7 p.m. on Monday, July 13. It will then be open 24 hrs/day on Tuesday, July 14, Thursday, July 16, and on the following dates: July 20 and July 22 July 24, 25, 26 The public is reminded the emergency departments at both Eastern Memorial Hospital and Guysborough Memorial Hospital are open daily between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. We know the people in these communities want their emergency departments open full-time every day, said Madonna MacDonald, Vice-President, Operations, Eastern Zone. At this time, we are trying to provide the best level of service we can with the staff and physician resources we have available. Going forward, we remain committed to developing a long-term plan for health service delivery in these communities. Updates will be provided to the public weekly regarding the emergency department closures and will be posted on the Nova Scotia Health website www.nshealth.ca. Signage will also be posted at the impacted facilities. Those experiencing a medical emergency should always call 911. For non-emergency health advice from a registered nurse, please call 811. The provincial Mental Health Crisis Line also operates 24/7 at 1-888-429-8167.

Eastern Memorial Hospital Reopens Six Inpatient Beds This entry was posted in News on July 6, 2020. The six inpatient beds that have been closed at Canso’s Eastern Memorial Hospital have re-opened. The beds were closed in May of last year due to a shortage of Registered Nurses. However site manager Leona Purcell say it has been able to recruit four RN’s to the facility and now have a full complement of nursing staff at Eastern Memorial. She says that allowed the hospital to... re-open beds. The beds were reopened Sunday. Purcell says it had a lot of support in its recruitment efforts including the District of Guysborough which contributed financially to increase incentives to hire nurses, the Eastern Memorial Hospital Foundation and the Canso and area Stakeholder Working Group. However Purcell says the hospital still faces challenges with physician coverage, and will continue to operate the emergency department 12 hours daily.

UPDATE - Our three nurses are all here and are at different stages of their training. It will take some time for all three of them to be completely trained and feeling confident to work in the ER. So for now the ER will remain open from 7am-7pm. Unfortunately, the Covid issue has stalled much of the training they require, but they are doing what they can do for now. However, the good news is we will be opening our six beds for specific care including Pallative Care & people waiting for a long term care bed. If you are a child of a parent in those situations thank goodness they will now be in their own community. This is temporary until our new nurses are ready. For more information please read the article in the MODG Newsletter that just came out. Please, if you have questions just ask.

Let me know if you have a donation for the new Family arriving on Wednesday. I'm picking up today and tomorrow.

CANSO STAKEHOLDERS WORKING GROUP - Susan’s Notes from Meeting (Draft only) of June 1stat noon. Physicians covered for June and the Health Authority and Facility Manager are currently working on July and August. We will be updated via emails throughout the summer on the situation. Janet thanked everyone for their hard work with recruitment.... All full-time nursing positions are filled. The second nurse started today and the third one will start on June 15th. Renetta spoke about supporting our own, so we aren’t always recruiting. This was discussed in length. Michelle (Recruiting) stated she will continue to work hard at the Universities to promote this area. Depending on how fast the new nurses complete their training will determine when we can reopen 24 hours a day. Buzz gave a Dentist Update He is hoping for an August start for a Dentist here in Canso. Only vacancy is 0.3 (which is a temporary leave of absence). We are in great shape, once everyone is trained there will be flexibility to get training, vacations, etc. Work is going well on the Brochure and the Draft should be ready very soon. Susan stated that the Welcoming Group has put together "Welcoming Baskets" for all the nurses and their families. Thank you cards were dropped off for the 3 doctors working to cover all the shifts in Canso. There is a new rental property available in Dorts Cove and once Susan has all the information she will share it with Leona. Update from the Municipality July Meeting will be their first ‘face to face’ and Janet will report back. Ray, Susan & Janet congratulated everyone on working together for a successful outcome to the nursing shortage. Next meeting will be early September.

Our new nurse and her family have departed BC. I am picking up "Welcoming Donations" for them this week. Let me know if you have something you want picked up. Anyone baking, the plan is they will arrive on the 3rd at suppertime. I'll pick up on the 2nd or early on the 3rd, or feel free to leave it in my car with your name on it. Many thanks everyone!!!

Just a quick reminder I am collecting gifts, cash (to make purchases), gift cards, etc. for Tiah and her Family (Boy -10, Girls - 8 & 5) and her husband. If anyone has anything to donate to a basket to help welcome them to our Community, let me know. I will accept etransfers at [email protected]. Also, any bakers or preserve people are welcome to add to the basket. Contact me for more info. Thanks to you all!!!

A THANK YOU NOTE - Thank you for the warm welcome to your community. After a long day of travel, it was so nice coming into our new home greeted by so many thoughtful and generous gifts. We are settling in nicely and looking forward to getting to know you, and calling Canso home ! Kind Regards, Linzy, Tyler and Ethan Roberts

Nursing Week is a time to recognize the year-round dedication and achievements of Registered Nurses (RNs), Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs), and to increase awareness of their contributions to the well-being of Canadians. This year, Nursing Week runs from May 7 to May 13. A big thank you to all our nurses!!!

First thanks to everyone who donated food, money, gifts and gift cards for Linzy Roberts & her Family. They were very tickled with the surprises!!! Tiah Skutnik and her family are departing BC later this month and expect to be in Canso by June 3rd (or earlier). So, I am hoping to pull together another Welcoming Basket for them. I'm wondering if the "Bakers" would bake again and and if anyone could donate jam or preserves that would be wonderful. ... The children are as follows: Ethan (10), Athena (7), and Lilly-Anne turns 6 June 19th. Just in case anyone wants to pick up something for them. If you'd like to e-transfer money to me I can look after picking the essentials up again. (Email - [email protected]). I would like money, gift cards, etc by May 28th. The baked goods, I'll get back to you once we've firmed up their arrival day but if you're willing to donate, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you all. So exciting this is of our 3 full-time position filled! Management is working on making the final .8 position into a full-time position and we are hoping for full incentives with that one as well... stay tuned. After all the training is completed we should be in great shape again at EM Hospital. Just to keep you in the loop, we are still advertising for Dr. Sullivan's position. Hopefully we will be successful! Susan

Susan’s Notes from May 4th (Unapproved) A teleconference was held on this date, starting at noon. To date NSHA, Facility Management and the current Doctors have worked hard to cover all shifts for physicians, since Dr. Sullivan’s Retirement. With the support of outside physicians and our current two increasing their time here, we have not had any holes in the schedule yet. The Working Group thanked all the people that are working so hard to help with this issue. To date ...Continue reading