Ontario hospitals are facing staffing shortages at “unprecedented” levels, says an official at the provincial agency that oversees them, but the situation may improve in the coming weeks as the seventh wave of COVID-19 recedes.
“It’s not really a new problem, but its persistence and its severity are unprecedented,” said Dr.  Chris Simpson, executive vice-president at Ontario Health, on staff shortages that have led to service reductions and temporary emergency room closures.  in recent weeks.
Ten hospitals have had to temporarily close emergency departments since June due to a shortage of nursing services, according to Ontario Health.  The shutdown continues this weekend, with hospitals in Clinton and St. Marys planning to close ERs for a period of time Saturday.
The system has always struggled to staff remote areas, Simpson noted, but the problem has now extended to mid-sized and large community hospitals and some academic hospitals.
Like many health care advocates and worker groups, Simpson noted that the staffing shortage is particularly acute among nurses, many of whom have left the field due to retirements and burnout after more than two years of grueling pandemic workloads.
Absences related to COVID-19 have also significantly affected operations, Simpson said, with “a few thousand” workers currently out of business due to the virus.
Simpson said he is optimistic that staff shortages may peak in the coming weeks as the current wave of COVID-19 recedes, allowing more people to return to work and fewer patients with the virus needing care.
“I’m pretty optimistic … that by September, we should look better in terms of personnel than we do today,” he said.
But there may be challenges ahead in the fall, including a possible eighth wave of infections, and Simpson said solutions to quickly bring in more workers are being discussed.
A top priority is removing barriers that keep internationally trained health professionals out of the workforce, he said.
Ontario’s health minister on Thursday gave two weeks to regulatory colleges for nurses and doctors to develop plans to speed up the registration of internationally trained professionals.
Simpson also said it is difficult for hospitals to share nursing staff because they are employees of individual hospitals.  He said a “provincial workforce” was something to consider that could mitigate future damage in similar tight staffing situations.
A Statistics Canada labor force report released Friday included data on nurses and the health worker shortage, finding that more than one in five nurses worked paid overtime in July, the highest level since comparable data available in 1997. By comparison, about 10 per cent of all other workers worked overtime in July.
Unions representing hospital workers on Friday shared a list of steps they suggested the government take to address the situation.
The measures include more safety and mental health support for staff, more financial incentives to help with retention and recruitment, and expanded post-secondary education options for health care jobs.
They also called again on the province to raise wages and repeal a wage cap bill.
Premier Doug Ford this week indicated no further increases were to be made, pointing to a retention bonus announced earlier this year for nurses.
Union leaders said the question of appropriate incentives should be discussed with the government in meetings with the workers themselves and said those discussions should take place as soon as possible.
“The fact is, we have a lot of people who are able to retire and we can’t afford them to leave,” said Michael Harley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Associations.  “We need to have this conversation.”
A spokesman for Health Minister Sylvia Jones said in an email that she had already met with the unions recently.
Stephen Warner highlighted the efforts the government has already made to recruit more workers, speed up registration for internationally trained staff and noted the mental health services available for health workers.
“We know more work needs to be done and we continue to work with all partners, including Ontario Health and the 140 public hospital corporations, regulatory faculties and health sector unions, to address any challenges on the ground,” he said.
Meanwhile, Simpson stressed that Ontarians shouldn’t stay away from emergency rooms out of concern about staffing.
“If you are sick, come and see us,” he said.  “Don’t sacrifice your health.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 8, 2022.

title: " Unprecedented Hospital Staffing Could Peak Soon Ontario Health Exec " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-08” author: “Margaret Hummel”

Ontario hospitals are facing staffing shortages at “unprecedented” levels, says an official at the provincial agency that oversees them, but the situation may improve in the coming weeks as the seventh wave of COVID-19 recedes.
“It’s not really a new problem, but its persistence and its severity are unprecedented,” said Dr.  Chris Simpson, executive vice-president at Ontario Health, on staff shortages that have led to service reductions and temporary emergency room closures.  in recent weeks.
Ten hospitals have had to temporarily close emergency departments since June due to a shortage of nursing services, according to Ontario Health.  The shutdown continues this weekend, with hospitals in Clinton and St. Marys planning to close ERs for a period of time Saturday.
The system has always struggled to staff remote areas, Simpson noted, but the problem has now extended to mid-sized and large community hospitals and some academic hospitals.
Like many health care advocates and worker groups, Simpson noted that the staffing shortage is particularly acute among nurses, many of whom have left the field due to retirements and burnout after more than two years of grueling pandemic workloads.
Absences related to COVID-19 have also significantly affected operations, Simpson said, with “a few thousand” workers currently out of business due to the virus.
Simpson said he is optimistic that staff shortages may peak in the coming weeks as the current wave of COVID-19 recedes, allowing more people to return to work and fewer patients with the virus needing care.
“I’m pretty optimistic … that by September, we should look better in terms of personnel than we do today,” he said.
But there may be challenges ahead in the fall, including a possible eighth wave of infections, and Simpson said solutions to quickly bring in more workers are being discussed.
A top priority is removing barriers that keep internationally trained health professionals out of the workforce, he said.
Ontario’s health minister on Thursday gave two weeks to regulatory colleges for nurses and doctors to develop plans to speed up the registration of internationally trained professionals.
Simpson also said it is difficult for hospitals to share nursing staff because they are employees of individual hospitals.  He said a “provincial workforce” was something to consider that could mitigate future damage in similar tight staffing situations.
A Statistics Canada labor force report released Friday included data on nurses and the health worker shortage, finding that more than one in five nurses worked paid overtime in July, the highest level since comparable data available in 1997. By comparison, about 10 per cent of all other workers worked overtime in July.
Unions representing hospital workers on Friday shared a list of steps they suggested the government take to address the situation.
The measures include more safety and mental health support for staff, more financial incentives to help with retention and recruitment, and expanded post-secondary education options for health care jobs.
They also called again on the province to raise wages and repeal a wage cap bill.
Premier Doug Ford this week indicated no further increases were to be made, pointing to a retention bonus announced earlier this year for nurses.
Union leaders said the question of appropriate incentives should be discussed with the government in meetings with the workers themselves and said those discussions should take place as soon as possible.
“The fact is, we have a lot of people who are able to retire and we can’t afford them to leave,” said Michael Harley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Associations.  “We need to have this conversation.”
A spokesman for Health Minister Sylvia Jones said in an email that she had already met with the unions recently.
Stephen Warner highlighted the efforts the government has already made to recruit more workers, speed up registration for internationally trained staff and noted the mental health services available for health workers.
“We know more work needs to be done and we continue to work with all partners, including Ontario Health and the 140 public hospital corporations, regulatory faculties and health sector unions, to address any challenges on the ground,” he said.
Meanwhile, Simpson stressed that Ontarians shouldn’t stay away from emergency rooms out of concern about staffing.
“If you are sick, come and see us,” he said.  “Don’t sacrifice your health.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 8, 2022.