'We are doing everything possible': IWK warns about long waits, overcrowding in emergency department

There's a crisis in the emergency department at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax.

A recent surge of patients is leading to long wait times and overcrowding, prompting the children's hospital to issue a public alert on social media this week.

The chief of the IWK's emergency department says the pediatric care centre has been operating at over capacity for six weeks and adds it's likely to get worse.

Dr. Katrina Hurley has been the lead doctor at the IWK's emergency department since 2019 and says she had been toiling for weeks about sending out a public alert, notifying the public of the long waits and overflow of patients.

"The combination of those factors together has led to us having difficulty in seeing all these patients in a timely manner," said Hurley Wednesday afternoon.

Hurley estimates more than 5,000 patients have entered the IWK emergency department over the past six weeks.

During normal times, the hospital will see an average of 80 to 100 patients per day, but right now, Hurley says that average is closer to 140.

"On Monday we saw 178 (patients)," she said.

The sheer increase in patients alone adds stress. Hurley says, in the past, they've seen surges related to specific viruses, but this time, it's a whole list of illnesses.

According to Hurley, COVID-19 continues to have a significant impact on the surge in patients, but so too does the dropping of public health measures, like masking in public places, which protected youth from contracting other viruses.

"It (masking and social distancing) protected us from COVID and it also protected us from many other illnesses," said Hurley. "All those normal illnesses from which children were protected and all are back now and at the same time."

The head of the Nova Scotia Nurses' Union says the family doctor shortage is another reason the emergency department is so overwhelmed.

At last check, nearly 95,000 Nova Scotians were looking for a family doctor.

"Staffing is one issue, the building itself, that's why they are building a new one," said Janet Hazelton, the president of the Nova Scotia Nurses' Union.

"The other thing is the lack of family doctors. You know that people who don't have a doctor, and even if they do have a doctor, they can't get in to seeing their doctor and so your child with strep throat has to be seen, but that is not an emergency."

The volume of patients is creating a backlog in care, which puts pressure on all staff who are having to work extended hours. There are also several staff vacancies in the emergency department.

"That means the nurses that are still working, are working more, and it means that to fill sick calls and COVID needs, you are sometimes having to change their shift on very short notice," said Hurley. "And that has a high personal cost to the staff that are working and so, we are kind of working under duress."

In the short term, the emergency department has added more physician hours to help improve the flow of patients, while opening up additional rooms and overflow space.

"We are doing everything possible," said Hurley. "But I don't think there is any one solution that can solve this problem."