North Shore Health Network acting CEO David Murray found enough staff Thursday night to fill shifts during the holiday season.

We’ve been working on this since the beginning of December.he said.

The organization he works for operates three locations on Lake Superior, in Thessalon, Blind River and Richard’s Landing.

None of these emergencies will be understaffed in the coming days thanks to these last minute efforts.

We have a full-time recruiter who has spent most of his days finding local doctors, specifically in Thessalon, for the past few weekscontinues Mr. Murray.

As of fall 2021, the community had four permanent general practitioners covering emergency shifts.

That number dropped to zero in January. Mr. Murray says it was him unable to hire a permanent doctor since.

staff shortage

It is thanks to the substitute doctors that the Thessalon emergency room has remained open since the beginning of the year.

However, Thessalon threatened to be closed for the holidays as there were no doctors available.

If it had been closed, patients would have had to go to the other emergency rooms at the North Shore Health Network, which is 50 kilometers from Thessalon. The other possibility would have been the emergency room at the Sault-Ste-Marie hospital, which is 90 kilometers to the west.

When we filled the last layer [jeudi soir]there was a collective sigh of reliefsays Mr Murray.

In the end, the doctors of Sault Ste Marie Hospital will take over 70% of the activities of Thessalon’s Emergency Department.

It makes them make huge sacrifices in terms of spending time with their family, especially during the holiday season. We are very thankful.

Despite a difficult year, the CEO says he sees it the light at the end of the tunnel and hope that 2023 will be better.

Notably, the North Shore Health Network named Tim Vine as CEO. He will take office on January 3rd.

With information from Angela Gemmill, CBC