Canadian ERs face record wait times, closures amid labour shortages and a resurgence of viruses circulating post-mask mandates
2022-06-24 from theglobeandmail.com
Emergency rooms are stretched beyond capacity, with some forced to close, as a result of problems that include a major shortage of health care staff, a resurgence of viruses and a lack of available beds in hospitals and long-term care.
According to estimates online, the wait to see a doctor at Vancouver General Hospital’s emergency department was nearly nine hours on Thursday morning. It was 4.5 hours at Calgary’s Peter Lougheed Centre, and nearly eight hours at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.
The Quebec government announced on Thursday that six emergency rooms in the province would be partly closed this summer due to staff shortages. A number of emergency rooms at rural and remote hospitals in B.C. have closed for short periods in recent months, including one that was shuttered at least five times last month.
Doctors report that most patients who require hospital admission from the emergency department are forced to wait for hours, sometimes days, on a stretcher until a bed opens up, which robs them of their dignity and adds to pressure in the emergency room.
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