Another hospital in Quebec is being told to close its emergency room for 16 hours per day — a decision the president of the council of physicians is describing as dangerous.

In an open letter to the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, Dr. Paul Saba criticized the government’s decision to limit the hours of the ER at the Lachine Hospital from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next morning each day as of Nov. 8. By that date, the hospital’s ICU will also close “completely.”

“These decisions will put the lives of many people in danger. We must provide not less, but more care. You cannot tell a patient with a heart attack that it is too late because it is 4:15 p.m.,” wrote Saba in the letter.

The ministry of health told CTV News the closures are due to a “significant” shortage of nurses and respiratory therapists at the McGill University Health Centre, “which threatens their ability to maintain emergency services at the Lachine Hospital.”

https://www.iheartradio.ca/cjad/news/lachine-hospital-to-shut-down-icu-close-emergency-room-16-hours-a-day-starting-next-month-1.16350547