45 physicians endorse letter indicating emergency exists with critical and acute care services at PCH

About 45 physicians have endorsed a letter being sent to the public – a letter from the East Prince Medical Staff Association indicating that an emergency exists regarding critical and acute care services at Prince County Hospital. It says their challenges include the ongoing lack of capacity for local internal medicine and critical care, and the impending loss of 24/7 in-house respiratory therapy coverage. They say they write the letter as physician leaders with 17 months of experience of decreased critical care capacity at PCH; and over that time they say staff have struggled to continue to provide essential care in a safe fashion in the face of crippling human resource gaps. The letter says that at present, without permanent sustainable solutions to maintain critical care services at PCH, no ICU-level medicine will be available west of Charlottetown. The East Prince Medical Staff Association says Impacts and reductions will be felt in all services at PCH, and they’re concerned that these reduced services will become the “new normal.”