When the right side of Rodney Doyle's body went numb on Aug. 26, he knew he was having a stroke. His wife called to have an ambulance sent to their home in St. Lawrence, on Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula, but there wasn't one available and the nearest emergency room was closed.
As the Newfoundland and Labrador government scrambles to solve worsening shortages of health-care professionals across the province, three emergency rooms in Eastern Health have had trouble just staying open.
Eastern Health says workers at the centre's emergency department would be temporarily diverted to help with Newfoundland and Labrador's COVID-19 pandemic response, advising patients to seek treatment elsewhere.