Hospital emergency departments are jammed up in much of the country even before the traditional flu season begins, raising concerns about the winter months ahead.
In Montreal, for instance, ERs hovered at about 150 per cent capacity for much of the past week — and some surpassed 200 per cent.
Dr. Judy Morris, head of the Quebec Association of Emergency Physicians, said the sustained pressure on the system from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent staffing shortages has taken a toll.
“It’s kind of unseen to have that over such a long period,” said Morris, an emergency physician at Sacré-Coeur hospital in Montreal.
“Certainly the lack of personnel — all types of personnel, but mostly nursing personnel — is hurting us across the health-care network.”
The situation is also troubling in other parts of Canada, including Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.
“I’ve been in emergency medicine for almost 19 years now, and I have never seen the waits that our patients have to endure at all,” said Dr. Carolyn Snider, the head of emergency medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital in downtown Toronto.
“I think what’s most concerning about it is that it doesn’t feel like there’s an end in sight for so many of us.”
Dr. Supriya Sharma, Health Canada’s chief medical adviser, noted that another COVID-19 wave is beginning in Europe.
