CEC model offers solution

The Island’s first Collaborative Emergency Centre model was launched at Western Hospital in Alberton earlier this week and it seems to have broad community support. The hospital’s emergency department has been closed from 10 p. m. until 8 a. m. since early July due to a shortage of available ER physicians and this CEC was developed to address problems for nighttime hours.

Natasha Dunn, chairwoman for the Save Western Hospital ER, is happy with the model which ensures that medical doors aren’t being locked in the middle of the night, and West Prince residents are enjoying an additional degree of comfort and security.

There are bound to be some kinks to work out and residents and staff should give the model a chance before passing judgment. The model is based on a successful project at a rural hospital in Parrsboro, N. S., which seems to have provided residents there with basic health services.

Western Hospital’s CEC, the first for P. E. I., will be staffed from 8 p. m. to 8 a. m. with an advanced care paramedic and a registered nurse who will have phone contact with an emergency room physician. From 8 a. m. to 8 p. m., the emergency department will function as a traditional emergency department, staffed by on- site emergency room physicians and nurses.

It doesn’t solve all the problems but it seems like a reasonable solution.