A Review of this month’s media stories on the failure of Canadian emergency medical services to meet the needs and expectations of 40 million Canadians. The lack of political will, the lack of understanding and the lack of courage by our political leaders puts the iconic image of Canadian universal health care firmly where it sadly belongs – as a myth, a dream and untruth.
Middleton’s Soldiers Memorial Hospital ER to run Monday to Thursday in February -Saltwire, February 1
Roseway Hospital emergency department in Shelburne closed Feb. 2-4 -Emergency room reopens on Feb. 4 at 8 a.m – Saltwire, February 1
Digby General Hospital’s emergency department temporarily closed on Feb. 1 and Feb. 3-6 – Saltwire, February 1
Soaring ER wait times symptom of system-wide culture collapse – Winnipeg Free Press, February 1
Winnipeg car crash victim says he was beaten by hospital security – CBC Manitoba, February 2
‘How come there’s a higher priority than a person dying?’: Labrador woman says her mother could have been saved if medevac flight arrived on time. Barbara Merle White died in Goose Bay, after waiting 16 hours for the plane that would have saved her life – Saltwire, February 2
Fairview Health Complex ED without on-site physician multiple times over five day period – EverythingGrandPrairie February 2
‘They lied about why they weren’t sending the medevac’: NDP Torngat Mountains MHA Lela Evans accuses health authorities of lying to patients about delays and cancellations with medevac flights – Saltwire, February 2
Another round of closures at Coronation Hospital – The Stettler Independent, February 2
Durham emergency department closed Saturday night – CKNX February 3
Patient, nurses sound alarm after union says extreme overcrowding forced unprecedented call for help – CBC Saskatoon, February 6
Rural southern Alberta community desperate for doctor shortage solution – Milk River is the last stop before the Canada-U.S. border to get routine or emergency medical care. In 2023, the Milk River emergency department closed 30 times lasting anywhere from a few hours to a few days. So far in 2024, there’ve already been nine closures. – Global News, February 6
Nurses at St. Paul’s Hospital ‘stop the line’ after patient goes into respiratory arrest – CTV Saskatoon, February 6. A traumatic situation in a Saskatoon hospital waiting room prompted nurses to enact a last-resort measure to sound the alarm about overcapacity and patient safety. A patient went into respiratory arrest on Monday morning in the St. Paul’s Hospital emergency waiting room, according to staff. Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) said there was no space behind the ER doors, with four beds in the hallway already. The situation triggered nurses calling to “stop the line” — a phrase that originated from the manufacturing industry, where assembly lines can be stopped if there’s an emergency.
Winnipeg woman delays urgent medical care due to long ER wait; urges others not to do same – CityNews, February 6
Family claims slow ambulance response time contributed to Winnipeg restaurant owner’s death – CityNews February 6
ER closures adding stress throughout Alberta’s health care system – Rural communities are increasingly finding themselves without an emergency department – Western Wheel February 6
Quebec’s plan for ‘mini-hospitals’ has not reached a consensus – CityNews February 7
“Since the start of the year, not a single day has passed without the occupancy rate of Quebec’s emergency rooms being at 100 per cent or more,” Faubert explained. “It is very clear that mini-hospitals would help reduce waiting times by increasing treatment capacity using their emergency rooms.”
Temporary disruptions this week at Smoky Lake hospital. The George McDougall-Smoky Lake Healthcare Centre Emergency Department will be without on-site physician coverage for periods of time this week – Lakeland Today, February 7
Chesley Emergency Department temporarily closed Wednesday – CKNX February 7
Digby General Hospital ER to be closed Feb. 8-11 – Saltwire, February 7
Roseway Hospital emergency department closed overnight Feb. 7-9 – Saltwire, February 7
Whitehorse General Hospital warns of long wait times in emergency department – CKRW February 8
Fairview Health Complex ED without an onsite physician for 12 hours – Everything Grand Prairie, February 8
Seaforth Emergency Department Closure. Due to staffing challenges the Emergency Department (ED) at our Seaforth Community Hospital will be closing today (Feb 9) at 9 p.m. The ED will reopen tomorrow (Feb 10) at 7 a.m – Nova Scotia Health, February 9
‘I was in a lot of pain’: Labrador woman says she was denied a medevac flight for an emergency surgery in St. John’s. Sent on commercial flight despite warnings – Saltwire, February 9
Eastern P.E.I. hospital ER reopens Saturday mornings. Emergency department at Kings County Memorial Starting Feb. 10, the emergency department at the Kings County Memorial Hospital in Montague, P.E.I., is reopening on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.The hospital’s emergency department has been closed on weekends since July 2023 due to staff shortages. – CBC PEI, February 9
Labrador baby almost died due to delayed medevac flight; breast-feeding mother wasn’t allowed to board. ‘I’ll never forget not knowing if we’re ever going to even see our daughter again’ – Saltwire, February 9
Emergency department closed at Merritt hospital due to lack of doctors, IH says – Castanet Kamloops, February 9
Pandemic funding cuts mean fewer emergency doctors at Queensway Carleton Hospital. “Cutting these hours is only going to exacerbate the problem.” – Ottawa Citizen, February 10
Alberton’s Western Hospital emergency department closed Feb. 10 – Saltwire, February 10
Now, four of the 10 patients, through the work of the physician and the nurse in that call centre, are … being diverted away from the emergency room and finding alternative plans of care.”
Nicola Valley Hospital ER closed for the second time in four days – RadioNL 610 February 12
Here’s how long patients wait to see a doctor in Ottawa hospital emergency departments – CTV Ottawa, February 12, 2024
Three Ottawa hospitals had some of the longest wait times to see a doctor for a first assessment by a doctor in December, and the wait times at all hospitals in the capital exceeded the provincial average during the final month of 2023. Health Quality Ontario reports the average wait time to see a doctor for a first assessment in an Ontario hospital emergency room was 2.1 hours in December.The Ottawa Hospital General Campus and CHEO tied for the longest wait time for a first assessment in the ER in Ottawa, and the fifth longest wait in Ontario. The average wait was 3.4 hours in December.In the days after Christmas, CHEO reported the longest wait time for a full assessment by a doctor in the ER was 17 hours, as the children’s hospital saw a spike in patients with holiday ailments, including RSV, flu and COVID-19.The average wait time for a first assessment at the Queensway-Carleton Hospital emergency department was 3.2 hours in December.
How medevac is failing the people of Labrador – Saltwire, February 12
Guysborough Memorial emergency department closed – 101.5 The Hawk February 12
Chesley emergency department closed Wednesday – CKNX February 13
Merritt MLA blasts Province, Interior Health after pair of emergency room closures – RadioNL 610 Am, February 13
Hospital, care home systems failed paralyzed Winnipeg senior in final days, family says. Family members also said “unreasonable” wait times at the Grace Hospital — including an estimated 118-hour wait for a medicine bed — swayed them to pull him from the ER the day before he died. – CBC Manitoba, February 13
Lakeshore General Hospital reports highest ER death rate in Montreal – Montreal Gazette, February 13
P.E.I. hospital emergency department closes Tuesday afternoon due to lack of staff – CTV Maritimes, February 13
First-ever official ER closure at Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake – Clearwater Times, February 13
GEORGE MCDOUGALL – SMOKY LAKE HEALTHCARE CENTRE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT DISRUPTIONS AGAIN THIS WEEK – Lakeland Connect, February 13
Urgences-santé says dial 811 for non-emergencies, as ERs in Montreal and Laval overflow – City News, February 14
Durham hospital closing emergency department at night – CTV News London, February 14
10 rural Alberta communities lost ER service last month. One community lost its emergency department for over 200 hours last month. – Alberta worker, February 14
Lakeshore ER uses physical restraints on patients ‘too quickly’: ombudsperson. In the context of chronic overcrowding and low staffing, some nurses have been known to restrain, for up to 12 hours, elderly patients with dementia who are at risk of falling out of bed or wandering around – Montreal Gazette, February 14
Fairview emergency room without doctor from Feb. 14 to 15, Feb. 16 to 17 – Fairview Post, February 14
‘It’s unsafe’: Patient voices concern for Saskatoon emergency rooms – CTV Saskatoon, February 15
South Okanagan General Hospital ER to close overnight Friday – Castanet February 15
Nurses’ union frustrated by unprecedented crowding in Saskatoon’s largest hospital. Zambori said that as of Wednesday evening, there were 80 patients in the ER at Royal University Hospital (RUH) who needed a bed in other areas, but couldn’t be moved because those wards were all full. That included four mental health patients waiting in beds in the hall for a total of more than 120 hours.She said it’s the worst it’s ever been, but that overcrowding issues are more common than ever. – CBC Saskatoon, February 15
Ste. Anne Hospital Emergency Department closed for two weeks – Steinbach Online, February 16
South Okanagan General Hospital ER to close overnight Friday – Castanet February 16
Reduced hours at emergency department in Lunenburg – Country 100.7 February 16
St.Marys Memorial Hospital temporarily closing emergency department on Sunday night – MyStratford Now, February 16
Lakeshore Hospital ER has highest death rate in Montreal, data shows – CTV Montreal, February 16
She was run over by a snowmobile but didn’t qualify for medevac. Getting help was a ‘horror story,’ says mom. Kaysha Jenkins had a broken pelvis and internal bleeding, says mother – CBC Newfoundland, February 17
ER closed at New Denver healthcare facility Saturday due to nursing shortage – Castanet, February 17
ER workers say they’re ‘overwhelmed’ and ‘distressed’. ‘We simply cannot give patients the care they deserve,’ says Halifax Infirmary emergency physician – The Signal February 17
Analysis: How Quebec’s ER waits compare with those in England. Hint: terribly. The wait time for one in 10 British ER patients is at least 12 hours. In Quebec on Feb. 12, one in three spent at least 24 hours on a stretcher. – Montreal Gazette, February 18
‘Angst’ in Durham as hospital ER hours indefinitely cut – CTV London, February 19
LETTER: Chilliwack ER a ‘terrible place to be’ – Letter writer ‘horrified’ to share space with unhoused people seeking medical care – Chilliwack Progress, February 20
ER DISRUPTIONS AT WILLIAM J. CADZOW – LAC LA BICHE HEALTHCARE CENTRE AGAIN – Lakeland Connect, February 20
Annapolis County firefighter sounds alarm after 2-hour wait for ambulances. 3 children and 1 adult were seriously injured in a single-vehicle crash on Feb. 15 – CBC Nova Scotia, February 20
New Brunswick family pushes for health-care improvements after three-year-old daughter dies – CTV Atlantic, February 20
KCMH emergency room change triggers fear of burnout – Eastern Graphic, February 21
Fairview ED without physician coverage Thursday – My GrandPrairieNow, February 21
Coronation hospital emergency department closed Thursday due to physician gap – Bashaw Star, February 22
SBGHC’s Durham hospital emergency room to close overnight starting March 10 – The Walkerton Herald Times Feb 22, 2024
Fisherman’s Memorial Emergency Department will be closed from 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24 re-opening at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday Feb. 25 and from 1 p.m. on Sunday Feb. 25, reopening at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 26. – Nova Scotia Health, February 23
Twin Oak Memorial Hospital Emergency Department in Musquodoboit Harbour will be closed from 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23, reopening at 7 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24 and from 8 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 25 until 7 a.m. Monday, Feb. 26 – Nova Scotia Health, February 23
ER patient charged after security guard stabbed at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre – Staff member says working at HSC is scary right now, ‘violence is through the roof’ – CBC Manitoba, February 23
Several virtual ERs over the next week at various sites – NTV (Nfld), February 23
Ambulance offload times explode at Cape Breton Regional Hospital – Saltwire, February 23
Emergency physicians increasingly exhausted – LaPresse, February 24
Temporary emergency room closure at South Okanagan General Hospital – InfoNews, February 24
Hospital emergency room in Wolseley reopening on Monday. The hospital emergency room in Wolseley is reopening on Monday. The community has been without ER services for nearly four years. On Friday, residents were invited to the hospital to meet new staff recruited from around the world. – CTV Regina, February 24
Wait times for an ambulance in Quebec ‘unacceptable,’ says health minister. Quebec’s Health Minister Christian Dube says wait times for ambulances in the province are “unacceptable” and an action plan is coming to improve access in the coming days. Dube was responding to an investigation in le Journal de Montreal that found nearly 85 per cent of municipalities in Quebec are unable to provide an ambulance in the required time to an urgent 911 call. – CTV Montreal, February 24
Suroît Hospital registers 150% occupancy rate – Neuromedia/Valleyfield, February 26
Sudbury mom shares concerns after daughter’s health card invalid at ER. “I asked her how it was invalid and she said she did not know and then she said that I either needed to pay $875 or leave the hospital.” -CTV Northern Ontario, February 26
Fishermen’s Memorial Hospital’s emergency department in Lunenburg is closed until 9 a.m. today, Feb. 27. – NovaScotiaHealth, February 27
Chesley Emergency Department closed for 24 hours – CKNX, February 27
Another Closure of Emergency Department At Coronation Hospital – Drumheller Online, February 28
Western’s CEC to remain closed – West Prince Graphic, February 28
Fraser Health offers $500 bonuses for doctors to cover ‘urgent’ hospital shifts – CTV BC February 28
Virtual ER Availability at Bonavista Peninsula Health Centre – NTV February 29
On-site emergency services will be supported through a Virtual ER physician from Friday, March 1 at 8:00 a.m. to Saturday, March 2 at 8:00 a.m. When a virtual ER is operating, residents can proceed to the ER at Bonavista Peninsula Health Centre as usual where they will be assessed and transferred to another hospital, if necessary.
Temporary disruption at Wabasca Health Care Centre Emergency Department – February 29, 2024 Alberta Health Services,
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