The warden of the Municipality of the District of Guysborough says the situation involving Canso’s hospital has been frustrating.
Eastern Memorial Hospital started closing overnight because of a lack of nursing coverage in May; community members formed a group to come up with a long-term fix shortly after.
After July’s regular municipal council meeting Wednesday afternoon, Vernon Pitts, the municipality’s warden, said the daily 7 p.m.-7 a.m. closures in Canso have led to a strain on Guysborough’s hospital.
“If (residents) have a medical condition or problem, they end up trucking up to Guysborough,” he said. “It becomes a drain on our physicians- we only have two, they’re working 24/7, and they’re maxed out.”
Pitts said there’s been no luck finding new nurses so far.
He said it’s very frustrating.
“We have to have medical coverage- it’s simple as that,” he said. “We live in Canada, we’re entitled to that- our Charter says we’re entitled to medical coverage.”
Pitts said committee members will continue to meet, but the situation remains status quo until they can attract some nurses to the area.
