The Tumbler Ridge Council approved up to a thousand dollars a week for the next four weeks, in the hopes that it might attract a lab tech temporarily to Tumbler Ridge.
Chief of Staff for the Tumbler Ridge Medical Clinic Charles Helm, says this is an unusual, and possibly dangerous situation for the town to be in. “Today is the eighth,” he said, appearing before council at their Policies and Priorities meeting on April 8. “The new lab tech starts on May 1. That leaves us 23 days without a lab tech. It’s unprecedented. It’s never happened before. We’ve had a few days here and there, but we’ve never had 23 days before.”
Helm says this is a “perfect storm” situation. A few months back,our previous lab tech retired, says Helm. “For the last three months we’ve really been in trouble. Chetwynd has helped us a lot. We’ve had agency techs have helped us out, and we’ve had the two Fort Nelson Lab techs have come and helped us two weeks each. It’s been a bit spotty, but we’ve managed to get through the last few months.”
But now, he says, the town is looking down the barrel of nearly three weeks with no coverage.
Why is this an issue? Helm says it’s all about the patient care. “Patients were told today that there will be 23 days without coverage. It’s inconvenient, but it can also be dangerous.”
As an example, he says what if someone had a heart attack. “If someone has a heart attack, the doctor has to run a blood test to tell how they are going to treat you. If you can’t, you have to ship the person out.”
This means that the person won’t be able to receive immediate, potentially lifesaving treatment, but will have to wait until they get to Dawson Creek.
And, since there is only one ambulance in town, says acting mayor Darryl Krakowka, there’s a chance that ambulance might be out on another call.
Councillor Howe, who sits on the Mayor’s task force on health says that council needs to do what they can to attract to town. “This has been a long time coming,” he says. “We need to put our money where our mouth is. If we have to get someone in for three weeks, we need to offer something to sweeten the deal.”
Helm points out this is a short term problem. “On the first of May, the new lab tech is starting work. We haven’t seen the whites of his eyes, and, while nothing is guaranteed until he starts, as far as we know, we have a new lab tech starting May 1.”
He says Northern Health is also planning on hiring a pair of medical lab assistant—one and a casual—who will be able to do a lot of the admin stuff and be able to take some of the pressure off the lab tech. “We also have an X-Ray tech, who is also starting soon, who we are hoping will be able to do some emergency lab work, again, to take some pressure off the lab tech.”
He worries that without having this support team, the tech might find himself overworked and burn out in a few months, which would leave the town in as bad a situation as it was before. “There are Lot of really good things happening in the long term, including the possibility of hiring a casual to cover both Chetwynd and Tumbler Ridge, and even as far as addressing lab tech students, presenting Tumbler Ridge as a good place to work.”
But right now, the town is in trouble.
He says Normally Chetwynd has four or five lab techs who can cover Tumbler Ridge, but they’re down to one. “There has been an agency lab tech position posted, but nobody has applied.”
And the new hire? He had to give notice at his previous position, and is unable to come up any earlier. “I’ve spoken to Northern Health, the college of physicians and surgeons and told them this is not okay,” says Helm. “It puts patients at risk and it puts doctors and nurses at risk. There’s also the chance of snowballing effect, where the worse things get, the worse things get. I have to know that everything single thing has been tried.”
Helm says he is meeting with the Northeast Medical Advisory Committee, with all the chiefs of staff in the Northeast, along with the Chief Operating Officers and the medical director. “That is my last resort. I’m going to sound the alarm, and I’m going to beg them to work with their lab personnel to see if we can get something to happen. Sometimes, the job posting doesn’t work; you need the personal connection. That’s my last resort to make sure no stone has been left unturned.”
He says the clinic is doing what it can to mitigate the crisis. “If we have to go through this, how do we make it less burdensome. People who are not urgent lab work can wait. We can advertise on social media, encouraging them to carpool to Dawson if they have to go. Maybe council can support TR Cares to offer more rides per week. These are little things that can be done.”
Councillor Howe says if the District has to toss money at the problem, they should be willing to do so. “This is a three week, short term solution, he says. “We’re not talking about the long term, but looking at what we need to do today.”
Helm is worried that there might be some issues around a direct cash offer, but, says Councillor Norbury, “What it comes down to is whatever it takes.”
Norbury is worried that it might set a bad precedence, “Are we going to do this with every temp doctor or nurse who comes in to cover holidays? When do we constitute an emergency? Where’s that line. If we are able have a little more specificity moving forward when offering this bonus. We are setting a precedence, if every time we’re short we are offering this bonus.”
Howe says this is a perfect situation. “The precedence is set when Charles Helm feels it is important enough to come and explain to us that this is the first time he’s seen it this bad. If he comes in and says this is unprecedented, that should be a wakeup call for us to say ‘it’s time to get on board.’ That’s when we make the call. We have to collaborate with Northern Health when they say we are in an unprecedented time. I don’t want to see this every time we need someone along the way.”
While they have been unable to find someone to cover the lab tech position, a Medical Lab Assistant will be coming to Tumbler Ridge April 11, 12, 16,17,18, 25 and 26.
