With cold and flu season in full swing, emergency rooms across the island are bursting at the seams.
Quebec’s new winter flu clinics are operational and are supposed to help, but staff at hospitals are still facing a huge influx of patients.
The Lakeshore General Hospital emergency room was operating at more than double capacity on Wednesday. Officials said the overflow stems from what they call an “explosion” of flu cases.
“Forget going to the emergency room, it’s bursting,” said Eva Tapp, who was leaving the Statcare Clinic on Stillview in Pointe-Claire after seeing a doctor for flu symptoms coupled with a respiratory problem.
Government data showed the Lakeshore at 223 per cent capacity, the highest rate in Montreal. Many other hospitals are also very busy. Lasalle hospital was at 213 percent capacity, the Jewish General at 211 per cent, and the Montreal General at 152 per cent, and those are just a few examples.
Wanting to avoid the ER, Bilal Mohammad went to the Statcare Clinic with his flu symptoms.
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After two hours of waiting, he figured he had at least five hours to go.
“It’s packed, it’s long, everybody’s coughing, everybody’s sad. It’s depressing,” he said.
Statcare is one of the province’s 59 winter clinics, an initiative that started last year. The winter clinics are walk-ins all over Quebec where officials have promised more staff to deal with flu, gastro and other non-urgent issues from December to March.
A health ministry spokesperson said the clinics would provide 20,000 additional hours of availability for medical professionals, but people described long waits at the clinics on Wednesday, too.
“I thought I would pass maybe two, three hours, not six hours,” said Tapp.
The people Global News spoke to were not aware of the winter clinic initiative.
A quick Google search for ‘Quebec winter clinics’ will bring up a page where you can find the one closest to you. The Brunswick Medical Centre in Pointe Claire is on the list. Mohammad tried to go there before Statcare.
“I walked in, I’m like ‘do you have space for walk-ins?’ They said ‘we’re full capacity,’ and they sent me out,” he recounted.
“People from Beauharnois are here because it’s full all over, not only in Pointe Claire,” said Tapp.
In an email statement, the West Island regional health authority (CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal) called the current situation “exceptional,” and said it’s trying to shuffle work schedules and bring in more staff to attack the overcrowding problem at the Lakeshore General Hospital.
They encouraged flu sufferers to go to the winter clinics. You can also call 811 to speak with a nurse if you’re not sure your symptoms merit going to the doctor.
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