
Understaffed and underequipped: Report shines light on struggles at Montreal ER
CBC
Dozens of unfilled positions, increasingly sick patients and a lack of space inside the emergency room have created an untenable situation at the hospital serving Montreal's West Island, a new report warns.
The 317-page report, obtained by CBC News, was prepared by an independent mediator between the nurses' union and the local health authority after workers made complaints about conditions at the Lakeshore General Hospital.
The Lakeshore, an aging hospital in Pointe-Claire, Que., serves a growing population in Montreal's suburbs and has been the subject of negative headlines during the pandemic.
The report is based on interviews with staff, statistics and a tour of the ER by the report's author, Marie Boucher.
It comes amid growing concern about overloaded emergency rooms in much of the province, but the report paints the situation at the Lakeshore as particularly dire.
Boucher described the ER as a "ticking time bomb," and stressed that the situation is "extremely worrying" for both patients and staff.
During her June 6 visit, Boucher said the ER was cramped and poorly lit with inadequate sight lines to ensure patient safety.
She found a shortage of blood pressure cuffs and thermometers, and a lack of privacy for patients on stretchers.
Overall, she wrote, her visit left her concerned about a "lack of dignity for patients."
The report found the hospital relied heavily on overtime and workers from private agencies to fill the gaps in care.
According to the report, Lakeshore had one of the highest occupancy rates in the region this past summer, regularly exceeding capacity.
During a two-week stretch in early July, for instance, the ER was at an average of 142 per cent capacity. On some days, the Lakeshore had twice the number of patients than its 31 beds.
In all, the report found, a total of 56 positions in the ER had not been filled on a full-time basis, for a total of 52 per cent of the workforce.
The report also includes testimony from staff, who expressed concern about the safety of their patients and the ability of hospital management to deal with the problems.