Brand new hospital, age-old problems: PC leader takes aim at bed shortage in Corner Brook

Western Memorial Regional Hospital in Corner Brook might have a new building, but Newfoundland and Labrador's Opposition leader says the facility is dealing with old problems.

"Already we have no beds, we don't have enough room," PC Leader Tony Wakeham said Wednesday. "All the equipment is there, but there is no radiation oncologist."

First promised 17 years ago, the hospital opened four months ago, replacing the former hospital that closed after more than seven decades of service. 

The new seven-story facility is modern, and there are 164 beds— the same as the former facility, according to N.L. Health Services.

But Wakeham said patients are still waiting for beds on stretchers in the hospital's corridors.

"When I hear stories about an 87-year-old man having to wait 27 hours on a stretcher waiting to be seen, that's just not good enough," Wakeham told reporters.

State-of-the-art technology was one of the promises planned for Corner Brook's hospital. 

In 2014, the former provincial PC government confirmed the new hospital would have a radiation therapy facility to help treat cancer patients.

Ten years later, the technology is there, but no radiation oncologists have yet been hired to operate it.

Wakeham said the province failed to recruit the necessary staff despite years of opportunity to start.

"Perhaps the premier, instead of signing the steel, should have been signing a contract for a radiation oncologist to come out of school to be ready to go to work when that hospital opened," he said.

In 2021, the Western Regional Hospital Foundation was allocated money to install a Positron Emission Tomography scanner in Corner Brook. 

PET scanners are a non-invasive, nuclear imaging technology that helps health-care providers diagnose illnesses.

Wakeham has questions about the PET scanner's status.

"There was $2 million given to the health foundation, and we haven't heard a peep out of anyone. So it's time to get past photo ops and announcements and time to actually start delivering services," he said.

In a statement from N.L. Health Services, Jeanette Okeefe said the health authority has adopted a "home first" philosophy recognizing that medical care is no longer restricted to hospital settings and in patient beds.

"A vast array of services can be provided in the community," Okeefe said.

Regarding cancer care, she said the health authority is focused on recruiting oncologists. 

"As we onboard our new staff and acquire more medical staff, we will be able to expand services."

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