Staffing shortages, hospital closures to blame for long wait times at Maritime emergency departments
Staffing shortages, hospital closures to blame for long wait times at Maritime emergency departments
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.
The House of Commons Public Safety and National Security Committee is set to meet today to discuss allegations of political interference in the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia.
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.
The next time the Bank of Canada raises interest rates on the scheduled date of September 7, 2022, it could potentially trigger a recession. Although there may be a chance that we don’t enter into a recession and the BoC is still hoping for a soft landing, it’s best to be prepared. Contributor Christopher Liew explains how.
Explosions and fires ripped through an ammunition depot in Russia-annexed Crimea on Tuesday in the second suspected Ukrainian attack on the peninsula in just over a week, forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 people.
One-quarter of front line employees surveyed at Canada's border agency said they had directly witnessed a colleague discriminate against a traveller in the previous two years.
Minister of Families, Children and Social Development of Canada Karina Gould is discouraging people from making fake travel plans just to skip the line of those waiting for passports.
As heat waves become more common and extreme due to the effects of climate change, the data centres that provide the backbone for the online services the public relies on are at risk of overheating.
Some energy experts warn a deal to sell Canadian hydrogen to Germany will serve as only a small, far-off and expensive part of the solution to Europe's energy crisis.
The government of Alberta is looking to draw skilled workers from Toronto and Vancouver to the province and launched its recruitment campaign Monday morning.
Toronto Pearson International Airport has shown signs of improvements in recent weeks, but a traveller and aviation expert says he was disheartened to see 'mountains' of bags and triple stacked security lines at the airport over the weekend.
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.
Quebec health officials say there is no plan to impose obligatory public health measures come this fall as the province launches its most recent COVID-19 booster vaccination campaign, targeting people living in CHSLDs and private seniors' residences.
Unionized bus drivers say children may have difficulty getting to school once the academic year starts if the Quebec government continues to refuse to increase funding.
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.
A Hearst, Ont. couple in their 60s has been charged with drug trafficking following a raid on a West Street home last week, Ontario Provincial Police say.
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.
Southern Manitoba municipalities are gearing up for fall elections, but in areas where the current mayor or reeve is not running, some communities could be short on candidates.
As heat waves become more common and extreme due to the effects of climate change, the data centres that provide the backbone for the online services the public relies on are at risk of overheating.
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.
An Ottawa family has adopted two beagles that were among thousands freed from a facility in Virginia that was breeding them so they could be sold for drug experiments.
A proposed correctional facility in Kemptville, Ont. has some residents concerned about how it might change the look of their small town and they are taking steps to prevent it from happening.
A two-minute video posted to TikTok that shows a man berating two women for not speaking English at a Richmond, B.C., SkyTrain station is making the rounds on social media.
A Vancouver couple was in awe and a bit scared during an hours-long encounter with a whale on B.C.'s Central Coast, much of which they captured on video.
A Regina-born actor will be making her superhero debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) this week, playing the lead role in "She Hulk: Attorney at Law"
Canada's year-over-year inflation rate slowed to 7.6 per cent in July, with the deceleration largely driven by a decline in gas prices. The inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year-high of 8.1 per cent in June, but economists were widely expecting inflation to have since slowed.
A fishing boat that sank with nearly 10,000 litres of fuel on board near the Canada-U.S. marine border went down in one of the worst possible places for endangered orcas, an ocean pollutants expert says. Peter Ross, a senior scientist with Raincoast Conservation Foundation, said the vessel sank in an important feeding area for endangered southern resident killer whales.
A section of the Galloping Goose trail through Colwood, B.C., will be closed for at least the next week as workers perform emergency repairs to a sewer line.
The daughters of a 60-year-old Vancouver Island man who was found dead in his home in 2019 are suing the Correctional Service of Canada, claiming negligent prison officials allowed two men to escape from a minimum-security penitentiary and murder their father.
