Saskatchewan has added 6 new Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds to its hospitals.
Two new beds were added to Regina General Hospital, three to St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon and one to Prince Albert Victoria Hospital. In a press release the province said the beds are meant to address overcapacity and occupancy rates. Saskatchewan currently has 85 adult ICU beds across nine regional and tertiary sites.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority is working to recruit nurses and other staff members for the expansion of the Intensive Care Units in Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert, and Yorkton. Some of these positions have been filed for the new beds currently operating in Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert, although some positions remain unfilled Lori Garchinski, Executive Director Provincial Programs – Tertiary Care at Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) said.
“We are also using current staff and contract nursing agencies to fill vacant positions until we are able to recruit permanent staff,” she added in a statement.
“There are human resource challenges but they have identified people that were upscaled during the pandemic who they can get to make sure those beds are attended properly,” Health Minister Paul Merriman said.
When asked for a timeline, Merriman said, “We’re hoping later on this summer, but we’ll have to see, depends on some capital and operating time, quite a process to be able to get it done.”
In the absence of previous critical care experience, new staff will also require specific training to prepare for management of ICU patients. The next training program starts in June, and we anticipate enrollment of staff members who will support these additional beds at that time.
He added that specialized positions are sought after in Canada and that training can be given for those positions.
This year’s ICU bed expansion is the first phase of a multi-year strategy to create 31 additional intensive care unit beds across the province for a total of 110 beds, Health Minister Paul Merriman said.
The province said plans are underway to add five more beds for a total of 11 which includes four beds for Regina’s Pasqua Hospital and one at Yorkton Hospital. These beds will be operational later in 2022.
A total of 108 full time positions, such as registered nurses and other health care providers, will support the new ICU beds, the press release states.
“We are grateful for the province’s investment in strengthening critical care in our urban, rural and northern regional hospitals,” Lori Garchinski, SHA executive director for provincial programs – tertiary care, said in a release.
“Our teams are continuing to build on the lessons learned from the pandemic, this ongoing expansion in ICU and high-acuity capacity is foundational in advancing connected care for Saskatchewan residents.”
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