1) Hospital Staff Overworked, Support From Province Needed, Ontario Union Says

Hospital workers are buckling under the pressure of heavy workloads largely brought about by a staffing crisis, an Ontario union said Wednesday as it urged the province to do more to support those working in the health-care system. 

CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions said Wednesday that understaffing is taking a toll on the mental health of its members, who include registered practical nurses, personal support workers and clerical staff. 

A recent survey of more than 750 members indicated two in five workers had contemplated leaving their jobs and a similar amount dread going to work, the union said.  

First vice-president Dave Verch, who has worked as a registered practical nurse for 35 years, said he has heard about workers counting cars in the parking lot as they arrive at work and knowing there won’t be enough workers there to fill the shift.  

“It’s like climbing a mountain every day. You reach a breaking point. And I think that’s what’s happening to a lot of health-care workers right now,” he said during a news conference on Wednesday. 

Health-care unions have long warned a retention and recruitment crisis exacerbated by the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic has put hospital workers under immense strain. Ontario saw several hospitals, especially in rural areas, temporarily shut emergency rooms or scale back service because they did not have enough staff to fill shifts. 

As the union bargains for a new contract, it’s calling on the government to increase full-time staff levels in hospitals and to follow British Columbia’s lead by bringing in mandated minimum staffing ratios.

British Columbia was the first province in Canada to bring in a plan last year for mandated minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, backed by $750 million in funding over three years. 

To help meet its proposals in Ontario, the union wants the province to invest $1.25 billion annually over the next four years on top of inflation. 

“They need to do more. They need to invest in the system so that health-care workers can see a bit of an opening for them,” said Sharon Richer, the union’s secretary-treasurer. 

The province said last year it had added 15,000 new nurses and had broken down barriers to nursing education and for internationally educated nurses to practice in the province. 

A spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones said in a written statement that Ontario nurses are among the highest paid in the country.

As Ontario’s population grows and ages, demand for health-care workers is set to increase. 

The Financial Accountability Office, the province’s fiscal watchdog, has said Ontario needs 86,700 additional nurses and personal support workers by 2028 to meet its commitments to expand hospitals, home care and long-term care. 

That’s about a 25 per cent increase in nurses and a 45 per cent increase in personal support workers employed in the sector, the watchdog said in a review last year. 

2) Free COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Kits Available At Health Unit Offices

Courtesy of Barrie360.com and Canadian PressPublished: Jan 3rd, 2024Release, Published: Jan 4th, 2024

By Jordan Omstead in Toronto

News release – Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit

Rapid antigen test (RAT) kits for COVID-19 are available to the public for free from the health unit. Test kits can be picked up at all health unit offices (excluding the 80 Bradford St. clinic in Barrie) during regular business hours while supplies last.

Although anyone can access a RAT kit, they are especially recommended for individuals who are at higher risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19, such as those over age 60 and those who have medical conditions or are immuno-compromised. This is because there is an effective oral anti-viral treatment against COVID-19 for those higher risk groups. To find out in advance or when you fall ill if you would be eligible and recommended for this treatment if you test positive for COVID-19, go to the provincial anti-viral screener.

Over the past several months, Simcoe Muskoka has experienced an increase in COVID-19 related hospitalizations and deaths and the COVID-19 Community Risk Level continues to remain at the ‘High’ level. The health unit recommends that individuals be aware of the local risk of respiratory virus through the COVID-19 Community Risk Level and Weekly Respiratory Virus Update. This information will allow individuals to assess their own personal circumstances that could put them at higher risk, and they can then take necessary precautions to protect themselves and others against transmission of respiratory viruses and severe illness.

The health unit recommends getting the current COVID-19 and influenza vaccines as soon as you are eligible to reduce the risk of becoming severely ill and to protect those closest to you. Individuals aged six months and older are able to receive the COVID-19 XBB vaccine formulation free of charge at participating local pharmacies and some health care providers.

The influenza vaccine is available free of charge to individuals aged five years and older at participating local pharmacies, health care providers and health unit clinics. Children aged six months to two years may receive the influenza vaccine from a doctor, nurse, or health unit clinic by appointment.

In addition to getting vaccinated, it is important to layer protective measures to prevent illness by staying home when you are sick with any symptoms of respiratory illness and keeping children home from school or child care if they are ill, cleaning hands and disinfecting high-touch surfaces frequently, and wearing a mask in indoor public settings, especially if you are at higher risk of severe infection.

For more information about COVID-19 and how to access a RAT kit from the health unit, visit smdhu.org or call Health Connection weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 705-721-7520 or 1-877-721-7520.

3) ER Doctors Don’t Want To Deter People From Seeking Care Amid Crowding: Association

Courtesy of Barrie360.com and Canadian PressPublished: Jan 4th, 2024

By Nicole Ireland in Toronto

The Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians says it is “concerned” about comments made by Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé in December suggesting that unnecessary emergency department visits significantly contribute to ER overcrowding.

If patients feel they need emergency health care, they shouldn’t hesitate to go to the ER, the association told The Canadian Press on Wednesday.  

On Dec. 19,  Dubé told reporters in Montreal that “there is a large percentage of people who consult at the emergency department who don’t have an urgent problem … I’m not saying they’re not worried, but they don’t have an urgent problem.”

He made the statement after receiving a letter from a group representing Quebec emergency department chiefs who said the situation was “out of control” due to overcrowding. 

Quebec’s health department also issued anews release on Dec. 31, encouraging people to consider other health-care services instead of going to the ER.

Volumes in emergency departments are high in the midst of respiratory illness season but the main reasons for overcrowding are systemic problems that have been flagged for years, said Dr.  Michael Herman, an emergency physician at Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa who was speaking on behalf of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians. 

“The issues around emergency medicine volumes are really more to do with flow through the hospital than it is to do with individual patients presenting,” said Herman. 

“When you have patients who are admitted to the hospital waiting 24, 48, sometimes 72 hours to get a bed on the ward, that in turn occupies space that can’t be used to see the next emergency patient.”

People arriving at the ER should expect to be triaged based on the acuity of their symptoms, Herman said. 

“Unfortunately we may have to anticipate that there might be a bit more of a wait than you’re used to — certainly more (of a) wait than we’re happy with. But that is the reality of the situation.”

If people have “timely access” to a family doctor, that can be a good option for those who aren’t experiencing severe symptoms, Herman said. 

But “if they’re worried that there could be something more serious going on” they shouldn’t hesitate to go to the emergency department, he said.

“The patient declares their (own) emergency.” Herman said. 

Government messages telling people not to go to an ER unless it’s “necessary” could deter people from accessing the care they need, he said. 

“The patient is the one who has concerns about their symptoms, concerns about their well-being, so they present to an emergency department to be assessed. That’s our job, that’s our role.”

Emergency department overcrowding prompted New Brunswick’s francophone health authority on Friday to ask people to avoid two of its emergency departments unless they needed critical care.  

The Vitalité Health Network said one of its ERs would be closed overnight due to nursing shortages. 

It also acknowledged that the holidays were making it more difficult to access primary care services. 

Emergency physicians met with health ministers from across Canada last fall to discuss the   issues plaguing hospitals and emergency departments on an ongoing basis.  

“The challenges that Canadian emergency departments have confronted, such as overcrowding, protracted wait times, and resource limitations, have persisted for far too long,” said Michael Howlett, president of the emergency physicians association, in a statement issued on Oct. 12. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2024. Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.