A physician says there are still strains on emergency rooms, as we head into summer.
She says a critical piece to “fixing” health care is still missing, but there is a glimmer of hope. Some patients are flowing through their hospital stays faster.
Dr. Tanya Munroe says the long game is being played when it comes to alleviating strain on hospitals.
Munroe is the medical site lead at Colchester East Hants Health Centre in Truro. She says ERs are still facing pressure and staff members are tired, but some of the recent initiatives taken by the province are having a positive impact.
“Do we have paramedics with patients on stretchers lined up in our hallway for hours,” asked Munroe. “Do we have patients who deserve to receive care on inpatient units held on stretchers and emergency department care spaces for hours or days?”
She says they’re moving the needle in the right direction on both those markers.
“By faster – we haven’t reduced things by one to two days,” Monroe says. “We’re talking hours and with EHS we’re talking minutes.”
But she says seconds matter.
“If you save a minute or hour on an in-patient unit or on an ambulance structure, you can actually provide care that much sooner to perhaps two or three other patients who are waiting for services,” explains Monroe.
The physician is hearing positive feedback from the community about the work of patient advocates in waiting rooms.
“We felt that we were seen,” a community member told Monroe. “We felt that people actually knew we were there and we got updates, which makes waiting much easier to tolerate.”
Despite the optimism, she says a critical piece to fixing health care is still missing.
“We need the physicians, we need the nurses, we need allied health support. We need clerical staff,” notes Monroe.
She’s also worried about ER closures this summer as health-care workers take vacations and demand increases.
Health minister Michelle Thompson says they’re working on it.
“That planning is happening now,” she says. “It will look different in different communities. Looking at the zones, I would say they’ll be looking at planning done at a zone level to understand where the assets are.”
Munroe might not believe there is a “quick fix” to health care problems, but she’s hopeful for the future.
“We will get to where we know we need to be,” she says. “I wish it was going to happen in a week. I wish it was going to happen in a year. It’s going to take longer than that.”