December 14, 2024
A week after Global News reported Saskatoon’s St. Paul’s Hospital was seeing dangerous conditions in its emergency department, we’re learning the hospital is extending its emergency room into another area.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority said overcrowding at the hospital has reached a point where the ER has had to extend into the ambulatory care unit for the week.
“Because we are experiencing these pressures we have used that space to achieve space for 12 to 14 patients,” SHA chief operating officer Derek Miller said.
And it’s not the first time the hospital has been forced to use different spaces for emergency care.
“It’s a short-term measure but it is part of our overcapacity and surge plan to make sure we can safely care for patients that are waiting for admission,” Miller said.
The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) said it’s not an ideal situation, but it’s better than hallway medicine.
“In real time things need to happen quickly and it is the best option for them because that keeps people from languishing in the hallway,” SUN president Tracy Zambory said. “In hallways, there’s nothing. It’s not safe.
“If they are at least in a unit, they have the proper equipment, and it is much safer. Is it an ideal situation? No.”
Last week, nurses urged the provincial government to address emergency rooms in Saskatoon.
Zambory explained how she hears of stories from nurses every day about dangerous situations they find themselves in.
At St. Paul’s Hospital, dozens of patients are admitted everyday with no available beds.
She described instances of violence, and said workers are simply burnt out and on the verge of leaving.
Zambory said there are much bigger systematic issues that need to be addressed to help the entire system.
“Mental health and addictions in this province are a huge issue that we need to be taking absolute total care of. And we’re not,” she said.
The news comes on the heels of a Canada-wide study showing record-high wait times for health care treatment.
According to a study by the Fraser Institute, physicians across Canada reported a median wait time of 30 weeks between a referral from a general practitioner and getting treatment in 2024.
In Saskatchewan, the wait is 37.2 weeks.
The study also shows that after seeing a specialist, patients waited 6.3 weeks longer than physicians consider clinically responsible.
Saskatchewan health minister Jeremy Cockrill said they are actively working to improve wait times.
“We are doing more surgeries in Saskatchewan than we have ever done before,” Cockrill said.
“However, we know the need is higher so that’s exactly why when I have talked about staff recruitment, when I talked about training seats, when I talked about the infrastructure investments. This is exactly why we are doing this.”
