CIUSSS de l’estrie – CHUS implements extraordinary measures to address emergency room overcrowding
FMatthew Mccully
ollowing consecutive days of emergency rooms in four of its hospitals operating well beyond capacity, management at the CIUSSS de l’estriechus announced yesterday that a series of special measures have been put in place to relieve pressure on the system.
The measures include delaying elective and non-urgent surgeries, opening extra beds in overflow units and additional sites to address ambulatory cases, increasing time slots available at family clinics, and having employees from other departments with appropriate training help support nursing staff where possible.
The measures, affecting the hospitals
Brome-missisquoi-perkins, Granby, Fleurimont, and Hôtel-dieu in Sherbrooke, will remain in place until March 11.
CIUSSS de l’estrie-chus representatives Rémi Brassard, Assistant Director of Social and Rehabilitation Programs, Stéphane Tremblay, Assistant Director of General and Specialized Healthcare, and Gilles Michaud, Director of Human Resources, Communications and Legal Affairs explained the measures in effect and took questions from media at a press briefing yesterday afternoon.
According to the reps, a recent influx of patients in emergency and hospitalization has meant that staff has been asked to work overtime to meet the needs. "We want to reduce the pressure and support our teams who are already showing great dedication to those who need our services," commented Michaud.
According to Dr. Tremblay, the overflow in emergency rooms is symptomatic of a larger phenomenon, related to the availability of short and long-term beds. The management of those beds, for the coming weeks, must be in line with the needs of the population and the hospital's capacity, he explained.
"This has led us to reduce the level of activity in our surgical and nonsurgical interventions," continued Tremblay. "It is important to specify that any patient showing up with an urgent condition will be supported according to our standards of practice," he said.
Tremblay added that any surgeries related to cancer, heart, brain or vascular function are considered a priority and will not be affected.
Scheduled interventions like implanting a pacemaker or similar surgeries affecting quality of life will also continue as planned.
Only non-urgent cases and elective surgeries will face a delay, Tremblay said, adding that the situation is being evaluated daily in an effort to keep up to date.
The status of an emergency room is precarious, Tremblay explained. At any given moment, a car accident or similar incident can quickly throw off the momentum of services.
Since December, Tremblay said management has been taking steps as needed to address spikes in patient volume. “Until now, we’ve been able to deal with the pressure,” Tremblay said. After consecutive days well over capacity at four institutions, he said there was a need to take more concrete action to ensure services to patients and not overburden staff members.
Given the current overcrowding, one of the measures in place by the CIUSSS de l’estrie-chus is a request to the public that only one caregiver/visitor accompany a patient in the emergency rooms.