
This week's Charlottetown hospital bottleneck prompts calls for action
CBC
Some Prince Edward Islanders say they're frustrated after hearing the province's largest hospital was again over capacity for two days this week.
On Thursday, Health P.E.I. said the Queen Elizabeth Hospital's inpatient and emergency departments had reached maximum capacity, warning that people who showed up at the Charlottetown hospital with less severe illnesses and injuries would face longer waits to see a doctor.
The status carried through Friday as well.
"Over capacity [means] all of our medical beds are full, and as such we would even have a few extra beds that we would open up to accommodate the patient volume," said Terry Campbell, hospital administrator.
"That trickles down to the emergency department, which means that essentially the patient flow is slowed down."
At one point, as many as 23 patients in the emergency department were waiting to be transferred to the inpatient unit. But because they weren't any beds available, Campbell said that created a "bottleneck" in the department.
A similar advisory went out on a Saturday this past June.
"As always, people are assessed when they present at the emergency department by a triage nurse," a news release said at that time. "People with more serious illness or injuries will be seen more quickly."
Marilyn Thompson was in the emergency room Friday morning after her granddaughter was rushed to the hospital by ambulance.
She said she's had a lot of medical issues herself as a result of a stroke, and her husband has a chronic condition, so she's been in the QEH waiting room often.
"In the last year or so, it's been horrific in regards to coming down here and having to wait upwards of eight, 10, 12, sometimes 14 hours to see a physician for sometimes very serious incidents," Thompson said.
"The nurses have been amazing, but there's not enough doctors and there's not enough nurses."
Interim Liberal Leader Hal Perry said a situation like this week's doesn't surprise him, given the province's decision to shut down the intensive care unit at the Prince County Hospital in Summerside, on top of closures at Montague's Kings County Memorial Hospital and the Western Hospital in Alberton.
"The government has done nothing so far to safeguard our own hospitals from further closures and they leave staff and patients to deal with the increased wait times, with delays and with the added stress," Perry said.