Outaouais hospitals reveal plan to handle severe overcrowding

Hospitals in the Outaouais region are implementing new measures to fight severe overcrowding in emergency rooms due to a flu outbreak that has pushed hospital staff to their breaking point.

The outbreak has contributed to overcrowding at the Hôpital de Hull and Hôpital de Gatineau, which were at 176- and 139-per-cent capacity, respectively, on Wednesday morning. At the two hospitals combined, 37 people had been on stretchers for the past 24 hours and 14 had been there for 42 hours.

On Tuesday, capacity had been 200 per cent at both hospitals.

Guy Morissette, professional services director for the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l’Outaouais (CISSSO), said at a Wednesday news conference that the area hadn’t seen an outbreak like this in more than five years. He said there has been a fourfold increase in flu patients from this time last year.

So far this winter, there have been five reported deaths caused by the flu in the Outaouais region.

Typically, one flu strain arrives in January and another comes around by March, but Morissette said both have arrived at the same time this year, causing the swell of patients.

To deal with the overcrowding, some patients will be transferred to hospitals in Papineau, Shawville, Maniwaki and Wakefield, which are all currently below capacity. CISSSO will re-allocate unused rooms and borrow unused stretchers designated for surgeries, and will also co-ordinate with clinics and family practices in the area to take in more flu patients. It is also preparing to open flu clinics if the Ministry of Health and Social Services calls for them.

The overcrowding has worn down staff forced to work long overtime hours.

Nurses had become fed up with the overtime scheduling system, which prioritizes veteran staff. The most experienced staff members are called one by one and asked if they can take the hours, which eats up time and has staff finding out at the last minute whether or not they are needed.

However, the system of prioritizing seniority has temporarily been lifted, and overtime can now be scheduled by anyone in advance, negating the need to first ask those with seniority.

The staffing issues came to a head after two nurses who worked from 4 p.m. to midnight Monday were told late in their shifts to work until 8 a.m., while two other nurses who were supposed to work 12-hour shifts were told at the last minute they had to work an extra four hours.

In a show of protest, a photo was taken of three nurses with their hands tied to their backs with medical cords, saying the hospital was “taking us hostage” by forcing them to work. It was taken while the hospitals were running at more than 200-per-cent capacity.

“We were at the end of our rope,” said Lyne Plante, president of the Syndicat des professionnelles en soins de l’Outaouais (SPSO). “The conditions were inhuman.”

Plante said she is satisfied with the concessions made by CISSSO, but hopes more will be done to avoid future crises.