The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) announced updates on its Capacity Pressure Action plan on Thursday, meant to address overflowing patient volumes and burnt-out health-care workers in Regina and Saskatoon hospitals.
Saskatoon’s plan was announced in November and Regina’s in December, both with 90-day timelines.
According to SHA, several objectives were introduced within the first 30 days of the Saskatoon plan, including moving current staff to acute care units, adding temporary emergency department workers and additional community transition beds at Royal University Hospital.
In Regina, the SHA committed to expanding the number of long-term care and transitional beds, adding acute care staff, and increasing community chronic disease support.
On Thursday, the SHA said they have hired 90 positions in Saskatoon, with 190 other positions open across the province, most of them in Saskatoon and Regina. Regina hasn’t hired for any positions yet.
The SHA also said they added 116 hospital and community beds between the two cities including 43 acute care beds and three ICU beds at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, five acute care beds at St. Paul’s Hospital and 32 transitional beds across the city.
In Regina, 27 beds have been added to the community-based long-term program and six new hospice beds were added at the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre.
“Our collective focus has been to add staff and beds while beginning to build some capacity in the appropriate care environments to better support patients in getting the care they need,” said John Ash, vice-president, Integrated Saskatoon Health for the SHA.
The plans are working to add up to 400 transitional, convalescent and long-term care beds and keep additional beds in mind as the province’s population grows.
Saskatchewan Union of Nurses president Tracy Zambory said hospitals and nurses are still struggling.
According to Zambory, Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon had 80 people waiting in emergency Wednesday night, with many of them in beds in the hallway. Eight patients required psychiatric treatment and of those, three were on stretchers for 120 hours.She said having that many mental health patients waiting too long can result in dangerous situations where staff can be harmed and nurses have also had to call the fire marshal to find spaces for patients.
SHA said that it is important that members of the board stay connected with front line staff and ensure good lines of communication.
“We certainly recognize that our emergency department volume ebbs and flows, it is going to put pressure on our staff,” said the SHA. “We know that it is a challenging environment and we want to make sure that (staff) are supported to the best of our ability.”
— With files from The Canadian Press.
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