A call for changes to health care in the Interlake-Eastern Health Authorities region continue. West-Interlake Ward 1 Councillor and West Interlake Health Advisory Committee member Keith Lundale's been involved in those discussions, after his involvement with a March 11th rally at the Eriksdale Hospital. The issue focuses on the use of nurse managed care at the regions emergency rooms, which see doctors communicating from other areas of the region, with the staff at the hospital. Doctors have expressed concerns over this practice, calling for the amalgamation of emergency rooms to put an end to the nurse managed care practice.

Lundale says since that rally, they've had meetings with IERHA administration and staff, discussing how to go about addressing the situation. He admits there's little that can be done for a quick resolution, but notes the advisory committee can now assist with bringing more doctors to the region.

"At the last meeting we had with regional health, they're now allowing us to participate in the recruitment program. What we mean by that is we can go out and try to attract doctors on our own, with the blessing of the regional health authority to alleviate some of the stress we have with not enough doctors."

Doctor recruitment's cited as the largest factor behind the reaction challenges, with IERHA CEO Ron Van Denakker noting their attempts to recruit overseas physicians won't create a long-term solution. Lundale says while the amalgamation of ERs is supposed to cease the nurse managed care practice, he personally feels it's not a feasible solution.

"None of the ERs have the capacity to bring in the influx of patients coming from a larger area. Not enough doctors, not enough beds, and not enough staff to be able to service that. Then, what happens is diversion takes place and nobody's happy with diversion at this time."

Lundale says there's no single solution to the problem, and a quick fix isn't an option. He says the current provincial election campaign also creates difficulties, due to the uncertainty of what could happen if a new government takes power.

"It's hard to do anything, because everything is somewhat in limbo as far as changing the direction of how we attract doctors and what that process would look like going forward. We all agreed yesterday, the current process isn't working."

Lundale says they're going to need to involve all parties to improve the situation, from the hospital's executives to the individual staff.