SHA feels strain of staff shortages
Health-care workers sidelined as they isolate after catching virus
Saskatchewan's health care system is feeling the strain on its staffing after several outbreaks in facilities and widespread community transmission have led to a growing number of health-care workers testing positive. Since Nov. 16, 120 health-care workers have tested positive for COVID-19 and others have been required to self-isolate.
Paul Merriman, the province's minister of health, said during a news conference on Wednesday this is putting pressure on staffing resources.
“If we have a dozen nurses that go down in a town of 20,000, that's fairly significant. We have to start pulling from other areas to be able to do that. We do have that set up, but that also creates a ripple effect of (second and third generation workers) that we have to be able to backfill as well,” Merriman said.
He also praised the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) for its contingency plans around where staff will come from to cover shifts if a particular unit's staff has to self-isolate.
As of Wednesday, there were two hospitals listed as having active outbreaks — the Regina General Hospital and the Prince Albert Victoria Hospital. Two northern health centres and more than a dozen care homes across the province also have active outbreaks.
“It is a significant challenge for the organization as these outbreaks are occurring in our facilities with our staff in particular,” Scott Livingstone, CEO of the SHA, said during the news conference, noting this staffing strain extends to long-term care facilities.
“We're looking at how we immediately build a human resource pool to help support outbreak management in long-term care, because it's something we've seen a lot of recently.”
Out of the total 268 health-care workers who have tested positive since the start of the pandemic, 28 have been identified as getting COVID-19 from a workplace exposure, the SHA said in an emailed statement.
There are other cases where it is impossible to confirm where the worker acquired the virus since there was exposure in both the community and the workplace.
The SHA does not have a tally of how many workers are currently self-isolating.
Physicians are also being called on to see where they can help meet the need. The SHA sent a letter to physicians, calling on them to consider taking more training so they could backfill in specific areas currently in need of more support. The letter was attributed to Dr. Phillip Fourie and Dr. John Froh, both of whom are deputy chief medical officers with the SHA.
“As COVID-19 numbers increase in the hospital, clinical service delivery needs are growing. SHA needs your help in the areas of Hospital, Field Hospital, Emergency and ICU. Currently the most urgent need is for physicians trained in hospital medicine,” the letter said.
On Tuesday, the SHA posted an update to its website, saying all Alternate Level of Care (ALC) beds at Lanigan Hospital had been closed until further notice because of “active COVID-19 activity in the area, staffing challenges in Lanigan, and required redeployment of health care providers to other health services to support care.”
In a separate statement posted on Nov. 26, SHA announced emergency services at the Herbert and District Integrated Facility were also closing until further notice due to “active COVID-19 activity in the area and required realignment of health services to support care.”
Merriman said the impact of staff needing to self-isolate is felt more acutely in rural areas where there are not as many staff to begin with. He also said staff will be redeployed to where the need is greatest, which is likely to be in the larger centres.
“We do have to start flowing services towards the larger centres, just because there's the opportunity to backfill there,” he said.