Thessalon emergency ward to reopen earlier than planned

The emergency department in Thessalon has found a doctor for tonight, allowing the facility to reopen earlier than expected.

The North Shore Health Network (NSHN) had originally announced that the emergency ward would be closed for 24 hours — from 8 a.m. today until 8 a.m. tomorrow — because of an ongoing doctor shortage.

But in a news release issued today, the network said the hospital will reopen at 8 o'clock tonight, 12 hours earlier than expected.

In the meantime, anyone requiring immediate medical attention should call 911. Ambulances will be re-routed to one of the following:

• NSHN Blind River Site
• NSHN Richards Landing-Matthews Site
• Sault Area Hospital

The closest Emergency Departments to the Thessalon Site are:

• Blind River Site – North Shore Health Network – 525 Causley St., Blind River
• Richards Landing Site – North Shore Health Network – 1180 Richards St., Richards Landing, ON
• Sault Area Hospital – 750 Great Northern Rd., Sault Ste. Marie

Today is the third day in the past week that Thessalon's emergency room has been forced to lock its doors, citing a lack of physicians.

Timothy Vine, CEO of the North Shore Health Network, was a guest on the latest episode of Village Media's Inside the Village podcast. He explained how the situation got so dire, if there’s a reasonable cure in sight — and how he sleeps at night knowing that a community he serves has no emergency room for people to depend on. (You can watch the full interview here.)

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