Ottawa’s Montfort Hospital was among hospitals across Canada forced to close their emergency departments over the weekend, suggesting the worst effects of the country’s nursing shortage are beginning to spread beyond smaller communities and into major cities. centers. Montfort, which serves francophones in Ottawa, closed its emergency department as of 7:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday because of what he called “an unprecedented shortage of nurses” caused by COVID-19-related absenteeism. infections, fatigue and holidays. Carleton Place and District Memorial Hospital, located just outside the city, also closed its emergency department for 24 hours over the weekend due to staffing issues, exacerbating the disruption to services in the area. “The decision to close the Emergency, even for a few hours, is not an easy one to make, but it has to be made, to ensure our team is able to provide excellent, safe and compassionate care when the Emergency reopen,” said Montfort. a statement. Katharine Smart, president of the Canadian Medical Association, said the temporary closure of Montfort’s emergency room is evidence that staffing shortages continue to erode the quality of care in Canada. “When you start having big hospitals in big centers that can’t be staffed and open, it’s really shocking,” he said. “This problem is growing and we don’t really see the government addressing it with the urgency that it requires.” For months, health professionals have complained about medical staff shortages and deteriorating quality of care at hospitals across Canada, as burnout and pay complaints have driven many workers out of the industry. Opinion: Emergency departments are in crisis. Supporting nurses must be our immediate priority Opinion: Nurses could ease Canada’s doctor shortage, but funding models hit roadblocks The same combination of burnout, vacations and pandemic absences led to staff shortages and emergency department closures in other provinces over the weekend. The Sussex Health Center in New Brunswick, which provides health care services to about 30,000 people in the Moncton area, said it will close from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and will resume normal operations on Monday morning. . Hospitals in Alberta were also affected. Fort Saskatchewan Community Hospital said Friday its maternity unit will be closed for at least two weeks and asked expectant mothers to use a hospital 30 minutes away. The South Calgary Health Center has reduced the time it offers emergency care by two hours a day, and a hospital just north of Calgary in Airdrie is closing on weekend nights for an eight-week period. In Ottawa, hospitals that remained open were affected by emergency department closures in Montfort and Carleton Place. The Ottawa Hospital warned Saturday that closing emergency departments in the region would lead to much longer wait times in its own emergency room as patients were taken there. “We know how worrying this can be for patients and that the wait can be long, tiring and difficult,” the hospital said in a statement. “Please know that our teams will continue to work as hard as they can to provide care to everyone in need.” Last week, Toronto General Hospital issued a warning for three of its intensive care units, which it said were either at full capacity or so short-staffed that they were unable to operate at full capacity. Dr. Smart said staffing issues at some Toronto-area hospitals are of particular concern because urban hospitals often have specialties that require nurses with special training, and recruiting them can be very difficult. “When we lose people with that kind of training and experience and they’re no longer working, it’s very concerning,” he said. Catherine Hoy, president of the Ontario Nurses Association, said the nurse shortage is having a ripple effect on hospitals, beyond hospitals. She said she keeps hearing disturbing stories from nurses across Ontario, including one about a hospital where management had to step in to help assess patients and another about a hospital where 18 nurses were caring for 55 babies in intensive care. “It’s everywhere. If I sat down and made a list, I would have 75 or more issues across the province,” Ms Hoy said. He added that hospitals in Ontario’s Durham, Niagara and Muskoka regions were among many that were either unable to accept new patients in some departments, intermittently closing their emergency departments, or had to scale back patient care services. Stephen Warner, press secretary for Ontario’s Minister of Health, said in a statement that 90 percent of the province’s high-urgent patients are completing their emergency visits within scheduled hours and that surgeries are being performed at 88 percent of their pre-pandemic rate. He added that the government is working with the College of Nurses to develop more internationally educated nurses – who are foreign-educated but need Canadian credentials to practice here – throughout the province. “Ontarians continue to have access to the care they need when they need it,” said Mr. Warner. Dr Smart said the ministry was cherry-picking statistics that did not show the whole picture. “He really ignores what people who work in hospitals see with their own eyes, it’s like he feels gas,” he said, adding that evidence of the problem can be found in an unprecedented number of complaints on social media from doctors and workers in the field of health. on working conditions. “That inability to get on the same page just compounds that problem,” he said. “It’s distressing.” With a report by The Canadian Press. The Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
