Earlier today, Prairie Mountain Health released an update on the Dauphin Regional Health Centre. They plan to make releases similar to this one on a weekly basis, to keep the community informed about their ongoing efforts to both repair the DRHC, and address Dauphin's healthcare challenges.
Treena Slate, PMH CEO, said over the past few weeks, their contracted assessors and engineers have been working tirelessly to get a full picture of the damages. Based on images in the latest news release, the damage to the DRHC is much worse than most people thought, and will definitely take time to repair.
"Our engineering contracted firm that we're working with needs to take a full evaluation of the building and clearly understand the damage...one of the main barriers to getting that concluded is they can't yet access the crawl space, it is still full of water and silt, and so they are working to remove that so they can fully evaluate the wiring and the infrastructure in those spaces, to understand the degree of damage and what needs to be replaced," said Slate.
One of the main concerns from the community is there is no timeline as to when the DRHC will be reopened, or when basic healthcare services like diagnostic services or an emergency room will be made available within Dauphin. In the meantime, Prairie Mountain Health has increased hours and staffing at both the Ste. Rose Emergency Department and Grandview Emergency Department, but those are both still a considerable distance from Dauphin.
Dr. AbdulRazaq Sokoro, Shared Health Chief Operating Officer of Diagnostic Services, said there are a lot of steps invovled in restoring even those basic functions to the community, and both PMH and Shared Health are actively working on those steps.
"These services are being located within the community, so it has to be done in compliance with the Health Standards Act, but also with the [safety] standards, which means that the facilities in which we operate have to meet the safety requirements...it is our priority and we hope to have those in the next few [weeks], we don't have an exact concrete timeline, but that is something we are looking at, PMH and Government as well," said Dr. Sokoro.
Still a concern from the community is the number of specialized services that the DRHC has, including cancer care and dialysis. PMH and Shared Health facilities that have those are even further away from Dauphin than Grandview and Ste. Rose, so travel is that much more of an issue. Slate said specialized services are also a very high priority, and have started to look at ways they can bring those back into the immediate vicinity of Dauphin.
"We are looking at every possible option, including what would be possible in buildings in the community of Dauphin itself and the surrounding area, as well as mobile options to support those services...we have to consider safety first, and ensure that we're meeting clinical standards by providing those services, so it is not as simple as moving equipment over to a building in Dauphin, we have to ensure that the clinical standards are met in those environments, so much work, and clinical experts are involved in that planning," said Slate.
The first few weeks after the DRHC's closure involved a lot of internal communications between Prairie Mountain Health and Shared Health, and other involved stakeholders. Going forward, Slate said she expects PMH to have weekly news releases, as a way to update the community about progress at the DRHC.
"This community update that you received in writing today with the photos, that update will be provided on a weekly basis as we move forward, and we can give updates to the media accordingly," said Slate.
With the closure of the DRHC also comes concerns that emergency response services or patient transfer services will not be as responsive, leading to increased ambulance wait times. Jason Little, Shared Health Chief Operating Officer for Emergency Response Services, said both PMH and Shared Health are aware of that concern, and have already taken numerous steps to mitigate the possibility of delayed response times.
"We have repositioned STAR-7, the STARS Air Ambulance from Winnipeg to Brandon for this specific issue, we've also repositioned the Contracted Low-Acuity Truck, which is patient transport services, to Ste. Rose for those appropriate transports...we're doing everything we can to maintain those ambulances and staffing, so I don't think you'll see any breaks in coverage at all.
Prairie Mountain Health is also planning to host a virtual town hall meeting on Thursday, July 30th, from 6:30 to 7:30 PM. Click here for more information on how to register.
Assessments of the Dauphin Regional Health Centre's damages, as well as conversations within Shared Health and Prairie Mountain Health about restoring basic healthcare to Dauphin, are ongoing, and a very high priority. Click here to view Prairie Mountain Health's latest news release on the DRHC.
