Bed closures hit Red Deer, St. Albert
Two Alberta hospitals are joining a growing list of facilities facing temporary bed closures as a result of staffing shortages.
On Friday, Alberta Health Services said in a release that seven treatment spaces in Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre's emergency department had closed temporarily due to staffing shortages. On the same evening, AHS tweeted that nine surgery unit beds at Sturgeon Community Hospital in St. Albert will be temporarily closed from Aug. 3-6 for the same reason.
Orissa Shima, registered nurse and president of the United Nurses of Alberta Local 85, spoke at an NDP news conference Monday morning to reiterate what healthcare workers have been saying, that these bed closures are uncommon, although AHS says they happen every summer.
“I've been a registered nurse for 21 years, the last 15 years at the Sturgeon, and closing nine in-patient surgery beds is not a normal practice in the summer,” said Shima.
Shima said the Sturgeon currently has more than 26 employee vacancies which are resulting in critical staff shortages on some shifts.
Health-care workers have been sounding the alarm in recent weeks over shortages leading to temporary hospital bed closures across the province, including at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and Grey Nuns Hospital in Edmonton.
AHS says health care is not being severely impacted, with 98.5 per cent of the province's 8,500 acute care beds open and available for patients.
On Friday, AHS vice-president and chief health operations officer Deb Gordon and AHS president and CEO Dr. Verna Yiu emphasized that the health-care system is safe and care is available for patients who need it.
“No one should feel nervous or hesitant about seeking care in the system,” said Gordon at a news conference.
Shima said Sturgeon hospital has lost at least four nurses to B.C., Ontario and the U.S. as the United Nurses of Alberta and the government continue contract negotiations, with the latest proposal calling for a three-per-cent wage rollback.
“We want people to know their health care is at risk. Less nurses means less care for Albertans,” said Shima, adding her colleagues are not willing to take a pay cut. “At a time when we're critically shortstaffed, chasing nurses out of the province, we shouldn't be closing beds across the province.”
NDP Leader Rachel Notley called on Premier Jason Kenney and the UCP government to take action regarding the ongoing staff shortages and bed closures.
“This premier should be looking at these people who have actually acted heroically over the last 18 months and looking at what Albertans need in their health care over the next 18 months,” said Notley at the news conference. “And start actually governing to create a more effective health service for all Albertans and do that in part by respecting the people who provide that service.”
Earlier this month, Health Minister Tyler Shandro said similar pressures are being faced by health-care systems in Canada and across the world because of COVID-19.