Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
The emergency department at Kings County Memorial Hospital in Montague remains closed on weekends, and officials say a lack of staff and resources means it will be difficult to get it back open seven days a week.
The eastern P.E.I. hospital’s ER has been closed on weekends since January 2025.
Tara Roche, the administrator for Community Hospitals East, said there is a desire to get the emergency room open every day, but staff shortages are hurting those efforts.
She said doctors are the biggest shortfall, but lab staff and registered nurses are also needed. KCMH has been supported by locums, but Roche said that is only a short-term solution.
“Like any area within health these days, there’s a lot of burnout, there’s a lot of stress,” she said.
“It really is just about trying to make an environment as healthy as it possibly is, and we’re dedicated to doing that work.”
Tara Roche, the administrator for Community Hospitals East, says staffing shortages are hurting efforts to get KMCH’s emergency department back open seven day a week. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)
Extending hours is a challenge because many physicians have other commitments, Roche said, and extended hours contribute to burnout.
“You need to have the staff to be able to do the work, so I have to be able to listen to staff when they’re telling me that they … need some support or need more resources,” she said.
“In order to have safe, quality care, all those things need to be in place before I can really look at expanding hours or offering different services.”
Montague resident Joseph Martell told CBC News the weekend closures are something people in the area have no choice but to “put up with.”
“I’d like to see a few more doctors in this area, then maybe the emergency could open up more,” he said.
“I wouldn’t want to have to run to Charlottetown all the time if you had an emergency. But I guess we just have to wait and see what happens.”
Gordon McNeilly, the P.E.I. Liberal Party’s health critic, wants to see more support for the province’s health-care workers, but said there also needs to be more transparency from Health P.E.I.
“We’ve got to figure out why we’re having trouble recruiting people to Prince Edward Island in important positions,” he said.
“It reflects in the KCMH ER and various other places across the province. We need employees to work and stay here, and I want to make sure that they have the best culture possible.”
‘I want to make sure that they know that they’re supported on our side and things need to improve,’ Liberal health critic Gord McNeilly says of health-care staff at Kings County Memorial Hospital. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)
McNeilly said there needs to be assurances that staff are supported before KCMH’s emergency department can reopen seven days a week.
“There is a lot of support needed for our front-line health-care workers. And with so much change going on, it’s hard for them to get a base,” he said.
“I want to make sure that they know that they’re supported on our side and things need to improve, and we’re going to keep the government accountable to do that.”