KIRKLAND LAKE - People have easier access to emergency room wait-time information.
Jorge VanSlyke, president and CEO of Blanche River Health (BRH), delivered a wide-ranging presentation at a Dec. 2 Kirkland Lake council meeting, outlining improvements and challenges — including the continuous risk of ER closures — at the Kirkland Lake and Englehart hospital sites.
VanSlyke highlighted several patient-focused initiatives now available at both locations, including the launch of an online ER clock. The tool shows the number of people waiting and the estimated wait time at each BRH emergency department.
“Hopefully that’s going to give you back a little bit more of that power and control when you access the ER, only if it's not an acute emergency,” she said.
SEE: Area hospitals eyeing ER wait time clocks
Language translation services are also now available and offered in more than 200 languages.
“If English is not your first language, you have over 200 languages to choose from. All we need to do is call the number and we have healthcare-trained professionals that use the translation services,” VanSlyke said.
“In fact, in the last few months, we've had the opportunity to use Spanish, Ukrainian, and Arabic, when people are going through ER, so that's been very helpful.”
Other updates include:
- Early mammogram screening is now available for women aged 40 and older, following new provincial standards.
- Improved staff retention, with turnover down five per cent in early 2025.
- A non-urgent transportation program funded for three years.
- A major sewer system upgrade, approved for up to $23.8 million.
VanSlyke said both sites remain vulnerable to short-notice emergency room closures due to physician shortages.
“Our physicians are working a lot of hours to the point that they're sacrificing family time,” she said. “ER closure is still a possibility at any given day.”
SEE: Northern Ontario hospital offering $2K referral bonus for hard-to-fill jobs
The first closure in Englehart happened with only a few hours’ notice after a physician became unexpectedly ill, VanSlyke said.
“Unfortunately, we've been working so hard to recruit physicians, but at this point, we're not to the point where we can mitigate ER closure. In fact, it’s a weekly conversation for us at the hospital,” she said.
“And what that means for the community is that you will not get a lot of notice when this has to happen. It means that you can wake up one morning and then you can get a notice from Facebook that the ER will be closing for a few hours or a few days. It really depends on the vacancy.”
VanSlyke said the hospital is struggling to fill physiotherapy, respiratory therapy, pharmacy, and general physician positions.
SEE: Englehart-area doctor shortage at a critical level, says family health team leader
RELATED: Kirkland Lake, Englehart looking to recruit, retain doctors
She noted that physician recruitment now depends heavily on whether communities can offer amenities, family support, and a welcoming environment — not just hospital incentives.
Deficits widespread across Ontario hospitals
Council pressed VanSlyke on BRH’s financial position, noting that hospitals were once required to strictly balance their budgets.
“Are we at the risk of losing our hospital here if we continue in a deficit position? Because to me, that would be catastrophic like I can't imagine Kirkland Lake without the hospital,” said Coun. Rick Owen.
VanSlyke explained that BRH is one of many hospitals across the province operating in the red.
“The short, speculative answer that I can give you is that I don't think so, because that means closing over 90 per cent of your hospitals in Ontario because of the financial situation,” she said.
“This is more of an industry challenge right now. It's not impacting one or two hospitals, it’s impacting over 90 per cent of the hospitals all over Ontario.”
VanSlyke said the province has been providing one-time funding to prevent cash-flow failures. BRH has submitted a plan to reduce its deficit, but VanSlyke said it still isn’t enough to meet budget targets.
“We're working as a region to figure out more long-term solutions,” she said.
She noted that base funding is not keeping pace with inflation, post-pandemic costs, or reliance on agency support.
“And they are recognizing that … So we are advocating as a group, not just in the north but all over Ontario, to be able to get this resolved, hopefully as soon as possible,” VanSlyke said.