Impacts to Health and Healthcare Services

The Dryden Regional Health Centre (DRHC) is a a 42-bed acute care hospital, serving the catchment area which includes Dryden, Machin, Ignace, as well as Wabigoon, Eagle Lake, and Wabauskang First Nations. Also under the DRHC umbrella are the Dryden Area Family Health Team (primary care) and Dryden Regional Mental Health & Addictions Services, responsible for servicing the same patient population.

As work moves forward with the NWMO project, we recognize the impact a project of this scale will have on all of the communities within the catchment area in terms of economy, population growth, and impacts on already strained healthcare resources in the region.

It is impossible to plan for the long-term impacts of a project of this size and duration, recognizing that this project will span generations. The uncertainty of what to expect as this project moves forward is a significant challenge for Hospital and physician leaders.

The following is a summary of the concerns that Hospital leadership and physician leaders have on the impacts to Indigenous health and the health system as a whole to our communities broken down by service area.

Primary Care:

Access to primary care services are already a challenge for patients in our catchment area; this is particularly true for patients living outside of the City of Dryden limits, including Indigenous patients living on reserve. Both the Dingwall Medical Group (DMG) and Dryden Area Family Health Team (DAFHT) provide various primary care services to the community. Increased population to the area would only further exacerbate these issues.

In particular, physicians have expressed concerns about the ability to process additional WSIB-related appointments and work physicals for contractors working on the NWMO project, as this is already causing strain on access to primary care services.

Health Outreach

DAFHT does currently provide outreach programming specifically for Indigenous communities, working with band offices as well as the Dryden Native Friendship Centre. With increased strain on resources as noted above, the ability to continue offering these outreach services could be jeopardized.

Emergency Services

DRHC’s emergency department would expect a general increase in visits as the population of the community grows impacting wait times. This does not include the potential risks of a project of this scale. Given our current resources, DRHC would be ill-prepared to handle large scale incidents that could occur related to construction and transportation related to this project.

Highway conditions in the region are already a concern, with many serious and fatal accidents being seen regularly; with increased traffic on these roads increases the likelihood of serious accidents. This not only puts strain on hospital resources, but can also limit or delay access to emergency services for patients living outside of city limits, including those living on reserve, in the event of a lengthy highway closure.

Uncertain economic impacts of a project of this scale could also impact a variety of hospital services. With increased population comes increased challenging for housing (which is already in short supply in the region); increased housing costs and lack of availably would exacerbate the already growing concerns of unhoused populations in our communities- populations who typically turn to DRHC Emergency Services as a safety net when they have nowhere else to go.

Hospital Services (including Inpatient Services, Obstetrics, Diagnostic Imaging, Laboratory Services, Rehabilitation and Surgical Services)

In our current facilities, DRHC does not have the ability to increase capacity. Space limitations would make it impossible to increase the number of inpatient beds, emergency beds, nor the equipment required (including but not limited to diagnostic imaging, surgical, laboratory, etc.) to meet the needs of the increase patient load.

Challenges with recruiting additional staff and physicians, to increase capacity would also pose a significant challenge to meet this increased demand across all services. Increasing capacity of this scale would require extensive planning, financial resources, and time.

Mental Health and Addictions Services

DRHC is already seeing significant increases in referrals for Mental Health and Addictions Services. As outlined under “Emergency Services”, there are concerns about the impacts of increased unhoused populations as a result of increased demand for housing in the communities impacted by the NWMO project.

Similarly, such an increase would be expected to put additional strain on several programs offered through Dryden Regional Mental Health and Addictions Services, including Housing Case Management, and the Community Based Mental Health Stabilization Unit.