The Horizon Health Network has hired two new surgeons to work at the Upper River Valley Hospital (URVH) in Waterville, N.B., a recruitment officials say was well needed. The health network says this is the first time in 10 years all three general surgery positions at the hospital have been filled. The hospital has seen labour and birth services suspended due to a lack of physicians who could provide emergency C-sections. A news release from the network says the surgical recruitments are “an important step toward addressing staffing pressures that have contributed to temporary diversions of labour and birth services at URVH.” The surgeons are set to undergo emergency and elective C-section training. Dr. Carl Boucher, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society, calls it a win for patients, providers and the entire health-care system. “It demonstrates that with the right approach, rural communities can successfully attract the physicians they need,” he writes in a statement to CTV News Atlantic. He adds the new surgeons will reduce pressure on the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton, the nearest hospital when URVH services close. “The new surgeons will help patients receive care closer to home... and provide greater stability for physicians, nurses, and hospital staff in the region,” says Boucher. Dr. Ken Gillespie, the physician program lead of Horizon’s Women and Children’s Health program, echoes this. “While more work remains, we are encouraged by this progress and will continue working with our teams and government partners to support sustainable local services now and into the future,” he says in the release. Horizon is also trying to recruit anesthesia and operating room-trained nursing professionals. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
