Staffing shortages, hospital closures to blame for long wait times at Maritime emergency departments
Longer than usual wait times are being felt at emergency departments across the Maritimes this long weekend.
“It's very busy in there today and unfortunately, we're currently experiencing what we call 'bed block,' where we have a large number of admitted patients and nowhere to send them,” said Dr. Margaret Fraser, a physician at Cape Breton Regional Hospital in Sydney, N.S.
Nova Scotia Health says people should expect long wait times in all four health zones because of high demand during the long-weekend.
Fraser says hospital closures and staffing shortages are big factors.
“We're working short-staffed. It's a holiday weekend, and usually we'd have seven physicians on and we've been able to do that recently, but yesterday and today we're working with six physicians only,” said Fraser.
In New Brunswick, emergency department closures are becoming a common concern due to a lack of nurses to cover shifts.
The emergency department of Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton, N.B., is asking the public to limit their visits for the entire weekend - except in cases of an actual emergency.
"We can't have a nurse or physician work 24-hours a day, seven days a week. It's not safe and it's also not safe for the physician or nurse," said Dr. Mark MacMillan, the president of the New Brunswick Medical Society.
"It's been a very trying time over the last two-and-a-half years and people do need some time away."
Back in Nova Scotia, the provincial health authority also says there have been too many cases where staff has faced abusive language and behaviour and that’s adding to recruitment and retention challenges.
“I've had a chair thrown at me myself,” said Fraser.
The Cape Breton Regional Hospital's emergency department is currently the only one open in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality this weekend.
Fraser says, on Saturday alone, some nurses needed a mental break because of the verbal abuse.
“Patients are becoming increasingly frustrated with how the system is working and understandably, but what is not understandable, they are taking it out on the nurses, the doctors and other staff. I've seen a number of nurses in tears the last couple of days and that's not acceptable,” she said.
Emergency departments are open 24-hours a day, seven days a week at regional hospitals and at the QEII in Halifax.
Nova Scotia Health says people should not hesitate to visit an emergency department if they have an emergency.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Nine suspects arrested in $24M gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport: Peel police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
MPs summon ArriveCan contractor to the House to be admonished in rare parliamentary display
Enacting an extraordinarily rarely used parliamentary power, MPs have summoned an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon to be admonished publicly for failing to answer their questions.
'Enormous sum of money': Actor Hugh Grant settles privacy lawsuit against tabloid
British actor Hugh Grant has settled a lawsuit against the publisher of Rupert Murdoch's tabloid newspaper, The Sun, over claims journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house, he said on Wednesday.
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
U.K. plan to phase out smoking for good passes first hurdle
The British government's plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party.
O.J. Simpson was chilling with a beer on a couch before Easter, lawyer says. 2 weeks later he was dead
O.J. Simpson's last robust discussion with his longtime lawyer was just before Easter, at the country club home Simpson leased southwest of the Las Vegas Strip. About a week later, on April 5, a doctor said Simpson was 'transitioning.'
Some of the winners and losers in the 2024 federal budget
With a variety of fiscal and policy measures announced in the federal budget, winners include small businesses and fintech companies while losers include the tobacco industry and Canadian pension funds.
Father of boy accused of stabbing 2 Australian clerics saw no signs of extremism, Muslim leader says
The father of a boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics in Australia saw no signs of his son’s extremism, a Muslim community leader said on Wednesday as police began arresting suspected rioters who besieged a Sydney church demanding revenge.
A wobble reveals the most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy
Astronomers have spotted the most massive known stellar black hole in the Milky Way galaxy after detecting an unusual wobble in space.