‘Happy to be here’: N.L. health-care workers help expand Fort McMurray’s ICU

N.L. critical care nurse Jennifer Richard is one of a seven-person team assisting with COVID-19 patients at Fort McMurray's Northern Lights Regional Health Centre.

Jennifer Richard didn’t hesitate when the Alberta government issued a call for help. The critical care nurse practitioner from St. John’s, N.L., is one of a seven-person team assisting with COVID-19 patients at Fort McMurray’s Northern Lights Regional Health Centre.

“It’s no secret that Fort McMurray and Newfoundland and Labrador have very close ties. I have friends that are here in the area,” Richard said.

“I know some of the team members also have family here so there are certainly close connections which makes it feel so much more like home.”

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Richard said the rest of the team is comprised of three registered nurses, an anesthesiologist and a family medicine physician. The nurses, she said, will be in Fort McMurray for at least three weeks.

“We of course have to keep in touch with our own province and continue to reassess their needs in the ICU to ensure that we aren’t needed back home but we have committed to three weeks.”

The northern Alberta hospital has been hit hard during the fourth wave. ICU capacity has been expanded across the zone’s two major hospitals, in Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie, to 15 from six beds. As of Tuesday, both intensive care units were operating at 100 per cent capacity.

“We continue to see many patients require a higher level of care from our regional communities where immunization rates are lower,” said Dr. Verna Yiu, Alberta Health Services president and CEO, during a COVID-19 update Tuesday.