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Township of St. Joseph mayor understands urge to head east, but contends doing so could clog up an already strained rural system
Published Jul 24, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 5 minute read
North Shore Health Network has recorded a 60-per-cent hike over the past three years in Sault Ste. Marie residents seeking emergency department care in Richards Landing. The rural service is currently closed for two days.Article content
Jody Wildman digs why some Sault Ste. Marie residents would seek emergency department care elsewhere.
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But the longtime Township of St. Joseph mayor contends heading 60 kilometres east to Richards Landing’s Matthews Memorial Hospital could further clog St. Joseph Island’s sole medical facility, yielding an unhealthy situation for all concerned.
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“I understand this is occurring and they probably feel, with the wait times in the Sault emergency room and parking and stuff like that, it’s maybe a better option for them to come down here,” Wildman told The Sault Star in a phone interview Thursday.
In fact, North Shore Health Network, which administers the site, has recorded a 60-per-cent hike over the past three years in people from the Sault seeking care in Richards Landing. A trend likely to swell given SAH’s recently reduced ER physician coverage.
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“Our preference would be that they use the emergency room closest to home and, especially if it really is an emergency, they probably should be getting to the hospital as soon as possible,” said Wildman, adding St. Joe residents are naturally concerned.
“People don’t want to use emergency rooms, obviously, but they want to know that it’s there if there’s a problem,” Wildman said.
A spike in seasonal residents also puts pressure on Matthews’s ER.
“And, so hopefully, we get through the closure without any major difficulties,” he added. “The point is you never know when you might need an emergency room.”
Indeed. And Matthews is suffering its own dilemma with a lack of locums, or temporary doctors, available to keep its ER doors open 24/7. In fact, the latest in a string of closures is underway right now, with the service shuttered from 8 a.m. Thursday to 8 a.m. Sunday.
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This may see Saultites heading even further east to NSHN’s Thessalon site, some 90 kilometres along Highway 17.
“We understand this is Canada and our hospitals are not exclusive to only the people who live in the immediate area,” Wildman said. “And so, we will have people coming from outside of the community to use the hospital. And I’m sure they’re going to get great service when they do come if the emergency room is available.
“I do think they have to keep in mind, though, that closures occur from time to time.”
Wildman’s concerns were echoed recently by North Shore Health Network CEO Tim Vine, who also said that given SAH’s sliced services, those needing beefed-up treatment at a network site – NSHN administers Blind River District Health Centre, Thessalon Hospital (Thessalon) and Matthews Memorial Hospital (Richard’s Landing) – may not be as seamlessly transferred or referred west to SAH.
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And Saultites seeking faster ER service by seek a NSHN site will only add pressure to what is already a severely clogged-up system.
“As people, for lack of a better term, emergency department shop for reduced wait times, we can see our volumes increasing,” Vine told The Sault Star.
At the root of the Sault’s most recent problem is the fact SAH’s emergency department saw some 11 funded physician coverage hours per day sliced, starting July 1. This, the hospital said, represents an approximately 15-per-cent decrease and would ultimately prompt all sorts of added pressure. SAH said the reduction resulted from the application of the Emergency Department Alternative Funding Agreement, negotiated between the Ontario Medical Association and the Ministry of Health.
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There are currently 24 physicians regularly working in SAH’s emergency department. The hospital did not say, in conversations with The Sault Star, if it fears vacant shifts and temporary closures, as seen with much smaller NSHN sites, but ensured it was “actively engaging” with the province to “best meet the needs of our community.”
SAH’s concerns were echoed by SAH emergency department chief Dr. Matt Solomon, who said funding changes would “significantly” impact emergency care.
“Let us be clear: this decision is not based on patient needs or data from our region – it is the result of an inflexible funding formula applied without meaningful consultation or consideration of local impact,” Solomon wrote to The Sault Star on behalf of SAH ER docs.
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The province disagrees. Ministry of Health spokesperson Ema Popovic said the total emergency department Alternative Funding Agreement subsidy remains stable for Sault Area Hospital despite a reduction in hours-reflecting negotiations with the Ontario Medical Association. Additionally, the hospital will receive nearly $1 million to enhance its emergency department, she added.
“Patient volumes at Sault Area Hospital decreased in the most recent year and, as such, the physician funding has been reduced,” Popovic told The Sault Star. “These hours of coverage are calculated based on the previous year data, per the ED funding agreement.”
A basic lack of family physicians is hindering health care across Ontario and Canada and, close to home, recent Ontario Medical Association (OMA) statistics showed there were 24 vacant physician positions in Sault Ste. Marie, six of which were family doctors. OMA said there are now more than 12,000 people in Sault Ste. Marie without a family doctor.
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A recent association survey concluded 40 per cent of physicians are considering retiring in the next five years and, provincewide, at least 2.3 million Ontarians do not have regular access to primary care. The shortage is especially acute in Northern and rural areas.
“I don’t think there’s any easy solutions,” said Wildman, a member of Algoma Board of Health, Algoma Public Health’s governing body. “There is a doctor shortage and that is especially impactful of smaller, rural hospitals.”
His community has an allocation of five doctors, but has operated for “many, many” years with two.
“And the doctors we have are doctors in the later part of their career,” said Wildman, adding that officials must work more closely with NOSM University to ensure doctors in training “feel comfortable” practising in a rural hospital.
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This, Wildman said, may mean mandating that students and grads log time in some of the province’s most underserviced regions, such as St. Joseph Island.
“That is certainly the next step,” he said, adding the province should be involved in implementing such policy as well as providing incentives to ensure “we have doctors where they’re needed.”
“I really do think of (rural training) as part of the program, as part of their education program, to get that experience, whether it’s in class or whether it’s actually in their community, working in smaller rural hospitals,” Wildman said. “If they’re not trained with the type of set-up that a rural hospital might have, then mandating them to (practise there) after is not going to be particularly helpful. They probably wouldn’t have the confidence to operate in that sort of setting.”
On X: @JeffreyOugler
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