Several Ontario hospitals were reducing service in certain areas over the long weekend due to staff shortages as an Ontario nurses union called on the province to tackle what it called an alarming situation.
Emergency departments were to be closed at the Wingham and District Hospital from Saturday evening until early Sunday and at the Listowel Memorial Hospital for much of the day Sunday. In Huron County, the Seaforth Community Hospital said it would temporarily close its ER overnight because it was running short-staffed.
The Ontario Nurses' Association said it had heard from members about staffing shortages affecting more than a dozen hospitals in a variety of ways ahead of the long weekend. “We cannot wait any longer to resolve this crisis that is harming Ontarians and their access to health care,” Hoy said. Nurses are also looking for more guaranteed access to personal protective equipment, she added, as exhausted workers face continued COVID-19 risk during a seventh wave of infections with few public health measures in place to mitigate spread.
Those plans must include communication with the public about the reductions and alternate options for care, staff assigned to greet patients who aren't aware of an emergency department closure, a process for in-patient coverage and a staffed ambulance on standby at the closed emergency department if possible.
“We have an ambitious plan for the largest health-care recruitment and training initiative in the province's history, which is already starting to see results,” Jones' statement said.
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