Horizon Health in New Brunswick has made the request to government to temporarily fast-track long-term care admission from its two hospitals in Saint John.
This applies to alternative level of care patients, who could leave the hospital if they had a long-term care placement.
According to a statement from Horizon, this was done to improve capacity and wait times at the Saint John Regional Hospital and Saint Joseph’s Hospital.
However, nursing home workers say the prioritized placements could put seniors in danger because the facilities don’t have the staff to take care of them.
“We have a serious concern,” said Tammy Nadeau, who is on the executive of the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions.
“We have 300 beds that are empty due to lack of staff. So what they’re doing is they’re compromising the seniors’ health knowing that there are no staff in the nursing homes.”
Nadeau says the lack of staffing has resulted in fewer bathroom trips, less bathing and less services overall, which is detrimental to the seniors’ health.
“By doing this, you’re going to see a lot of residents moving to nursing homes and you’re going to see a lot more fatalities. A lot more deaths,” she said.
Data from Horizon Health shows that the Saint John region has had the highest percentage of beds occupied by alternative level of care patients in the province between 2020 and 2023.
More than 200 beds in the Saint John Regional Hospital are currently occupied by these patients.
The Department of Social Development will be assessing Horizon Health’s request regarding the prioritization of the Saint John Regional Hospital on Thursday.
The prioritization measures can only be enacted for a maximum of 30 days.