Overcapacity alert lifted

First time alert took place at the CBRH

SYDNEY — The first-ever capacity alert issued for the Cape Breton Regional Hospital was lifted by Friday morning.

The Nova Scotia Health Authority warned staff Thursday that the hospital was overcapacity across all of its in-patient medical and surgical services. The alert described the hospital’s emergency department as “severely overcapacity and (requiring) decompression,” with 25 patients admitted and 15 detained. Overcapacity beds were being used across the hospital, the memo stated, and efforts are being made to avoid surgical cancellations.

The Friday morning report issued at 7 a.m. indicated that seven patients were admitted at the ER, with seven detained, waiting for test results or are under observation, spokesperson Greg Boone said.

While the alerts have been issued previously in Halifax, it was the first time it took place at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, he said.

By the end of the day Thursday, the hospital was down to fewer than 10 patients admitted in its ER.

Clearing beds is influenced by discharges, the ability to transfer and the volume of admitted patients in the emergency department. Strategies outlined in the memo to deal with the overcapacity aren’t only employed when the hospital is in overcapacity, Boone said.

“Those are things that we’re doing on a regular basis at different times, depending on the situation,” he said. “Patient flow has a number of things that are ongoing, and those elements that have been identified are part of what we do every day for patient flow to make it as efficient as possible.”

The alert outlined the measures needed to deal with the situation, including sending patients from the CBRH to their home hospitals, reassessing patients who are nearing discharge, and the requirement to set an estimated date of discharge for all patients.

Physicians with admitted patients in the emergency department were also advised to reassess those with a length of stay greater than 24 hours about their potential for discharge.

“We work to identify the patients that can be either discharged or transferred and we’re always monitoring the volume of patients being admitted, and the most significant number of admissions usually come through the emergency department,” Boone said.

There were no surgical cancellations as a result of the alert, he said. There were two surgical cases cancelled Tuesday and three on Wednesday related to the availability of inpatient beds for those surgical patients. Those surgeries were considered elective cases.

Tammy Martin, NDP Health critic and MLA for Cape Breton Centre, said she wasn’t surprised that the alert was issued. She said there have been suggestions locally about how to address the challenges in the system but the province seems unwilling to hear them.

“Sadly, I wasn’t shocked, but really, really disappointed that we’re at this point,” she said. “Everybody has been screaming from the rooftops, ‘We’re in crisis, we’re in danger,’ and this Liberal government has not been listening and to see this come out, I’m not one bit shocked. Of course, this was going to happen.”

Progressive Conservative leader Tim Houston on Friday issued a statement critical about the handling of the file by Stephen McNeil’s Liberal government.