Sask. nurse's union president says province inching closer to emergency rooms collapsing

The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) says Wednesday night was terrible at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, with 90 people waiting in the emergency room with only 31 beds available. 

SUN says nine of the city's 15 ambulances were lined up outside the hospital that night.

Tracy Zambory, president of SUN, said she spoke with members of the RUH staff.

"It's the worst they have ever seen in their entire careers. To be at 200 plus per cent over capacity is beyond what we can imagine. It's a tragedy in waiting," she said.

"The stress on the registered nurses that are working in that emergency room department — there aren't any words to describe it anymore."

Zambory said many nurses and health-care staff are feeling burnt out and overwhelmed, with some experiencing anxiety and panic attacks.

With children going back to school in a week and the resurgence of COVID-19 outbreaks, Zambory said the province is inching closer to the collapse of emergency rooms.

She said other regions in the province are also struggling with staffing shortages. 

"I spoke with one registered nurse who works at Regina General Hospital in the emergency. She talked about it being so full that there were 50 people in the lineup to get to the tertiary desk," Zambory said.

"Their waiting room was completely full. People were getting housed down the hallway."

She said this is becoming a common occurrence across the province and worries the fall might exacerbate the already precarious situation.

In an email statement, the provincial Ministry of Health said it is aware of emergency departments struggling with staff shortages as human health resource challenges continue to occur across Canada and globally. 

"The Government of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) are working hard to address the challenges around recruiting and retaining health-care workers to address immediate system issues as well as over the long-term," the statement said.

The ministry said that tertiary acute care sites in Saskatoon, and to a lesser extent in Regina, are experiencing overcapacity in their inpatient units.

"Regional centres may receive an increased demand for services – inpatient and diagnostic services, as patients transferring into tertiary centres may have to wait overnight in the sending hospitals, prior to transfer," the statement said.

The ministry stated that ministers Paul Merriman and Everett Hindley have visited health facilities throughout the province this summer, with Merriman visiting both Regina hospitals to speak with administrators and front-line providers.

Zambory said no one knows what occurred in those conversations. She said she personally had conversations with Scott Moe and Merriman very few times this year.

"They haven't even spoken to the people who do the work to ask them what exactly it is that will make the rural and remote areas viable, so that we can keep the facilities open," she said.

She said she wants more consultation to occur.

Andrew Will, interim CEO of SHA, said recruiting registered nurses and continuing care aids is an ongoing challenge.

He said SHA is competing with other regions and other provinces.

When specifically asked about RUH, Will did not comment.

"We certainly are facing pressures in our acute care facilities. We are doing our very best to provide high quality care for our patients," he said.

"Certainly we are seeing some increase in COVID admissions as well which is creating some additional pressure."

Will said several factors — retiring healthcare workers, delayed surgeries picking back up and staffing shortages — are leading to some regions experiencing overcapacity.

When questioned about staff quitting early due to burnout, Will said he could not comment, citing lack of evidence.

Zambory said she is concerned about climbing vacancy rates and high burnout rates affecting remote and rural centres the most.

She called on the premier and the government to bring nurses to the table to discuss solutions before "more catastrophe" sets in.

"SHA should admit we are in a massive nursing crisis. This is not sustainable," she said.

"Our members are suffering from disenfranchised grief. People have to wait for hours to receive care but nurses are the people who are bearing the brunt. It's a tragedy happening within a tragedy."