Emergency department closures due to nursing shortage quadrupled in southern Manitoba
CBC
Emergency departments in Manitoba's Southern Health region are closing more frequently because there are not enough nurses to work, according to data from the health authority.
CBC News received a document with the data from the Manitoba Nurses Union, which it had obtained from Southern Health-Santé Sud through a freedom of information request.
The data shows that the number of times an emergency department was closed due to a nursing shortage has increased nearly four-fold.
"People are obviously disappointed," said Al Friesen, the mayor of Altona, Man. — one of the towns in the region affected by the closures.
"People feel strongly about the delivery of care in their community."
The document outlined the frequency of emergency department closures in the Southern Health region from Jan. 1, 2017, to Nov. 9, 2021. Each time a department closes, it's tallied under one of five reasons: nursing resources, physician resources, nurse and physician resources, lab unavailable and overflow.
In 2017, there were 35 closures in the "nursing resources" category, and in 2018 there were 26. But in 2021, that number jumped to 126.
The closures took place in Altona, Carman, DeSalaberry, Lorne, Morris, Notre Dame, Rock Lake and Ste. Anne. The highest number of closures were in Morris and Altona.
A nurse who works at the Bethesda Regional Health Centre, a regional hospital in Steinbach, Man., where patients are directed to during closures, told CBC News that patients are having to wait longer when they arrive because the hospital is already short-staffed.
"This is considered a regional centre and we are not allowed to close our doors, so we get into a staffing crisis and we somehow have to figure out how to make it work," she said. "It's incredibly scary to see emergency rooms closing beds because of staffing shortages."
The nurse said on a typical day, Bethesda's emergency department is short one to three nurses. Many who worked there have left due to medical stress, maternity leave and "greener pastures," she said.
Another emergency nurse at the hospital said it's stressful to deal with patients who are often getting angrier because of longer wait times.
CBC News is protecting the identity of both nurses because they fear being fired for speaking out.
The second nurse said being constantly being mandated to work overtime adds to the stress and exhaustion.
When Stephanie Gamble watched her mother model the first dress she made, smiling wide and walking an imaginary runway, she knew that was what she wanted to keep doing in her life.
'Tis the season for cuddling on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and watching holiday movies. And for people in B.C.'s Interior, that can increasingly mean seeing their home communities on display.
Every year, snowy owls spread their wings and migrate down to the Prairies, where they enjoy access to plenty of rodent prey in vast open spaces.
This month has been a busy stretch at the Upper Room Food Bank in Charlottetown.
N.W.T. Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland says she has received the final report from an independent investigation into education bodies in the Dehcho region.
P.E.I.’s auditor general says he’s concerned and disappointed that the projected deficit has doubled what government initially estimated it would be — and he's urging the province to balance its budget.
A man found not criminally responsible for stabbing five people to death at a Calgary house party is getting more freedoms but not an absolute discharge.
A man has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a Toronto mother outside a supervised consumption site in Leslieville.
Russian olive trees — sometimes known as silver berry or oleaster — are small, ornamental plants with silvery leaves and black bark, and small yellow flowers and silver fruit that look like miniature olives. They’re pretty, but they’re a problem.
The Yukon Legislative Assembly’s fall sitting ended on Thursday after the territorial government introduced and passed a supplementary budget.
A Canadian military counter-intelligence operative, who stands accused of passing sensitive information to Ukraine, was involved in an investigation into allegations that a leading Canadian defence journalist was a longtime Russian asset.
An Alberta panel aimed at finding ways the province can strengthen its autonomy has offered up seven recommendations, including options for referendum topics.
People won't be able to travel along B.C.'s Highway 3 without significant delays and detours over the holiday season, says the Ministry of Transportation.