Emergency patients diverted as Red Deer hospital continues to struggle | 24CA News

The Red Deer Regional hospital, stricken by ongoing capability issues, staffing shortages and excessive affected person volumes, was so overwhelmed final weekend it was pressured to briefly divert emergency division sufferers.

The facility is the one referral centre for almost half 1,000,000 central Albertans.

“[It’s] a critical, crisis situation where we don’t have the staff to provide safe care. We don’t have the space. It’s not a good scene right now,” mentioned Susan Beatson, president of the Red Deer hospital chapter of the United Nurses of Alberta.

On Friday, 32 admitted sufferers have been caught within the ER ready for beds on the wards, she mentioned.

While emergency division remedy areas can fluctuate, Beatson estimated there have been roughly 46 areas (together with stretchers, chairs and recliners) open that day, leaving few for incoming sufferers.

“The hospital was full. The emergency department was full. And there was a critical incident the day prior.”

According to Beatson, a affected person grew to become critically sick within the ready room on Friday after ready 4 hours to see a physician.

“This is a situation that has been ongoing for months and months and months. So when there’s a critical incident that happens … that finally kicks them into saying, ‘we have to do something.'”

Data recorded on the Alberta Health Services’ web site exhibits estimated wait instances peaked at 13.5 hours in a single day. However, Beatson mentioned nurses recorded precise wait instances of as much as 18 hours on Friday.

2 sufferers diverted

AHS didn’t reply questions from 24CA News concerning the crucial incident.

The well being authority did affirm sufferers with “higher care needs” have been diverted from the emergency division from 1:30 a.m. till 3 p.m. Saturday.

“Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre … continues to be exceptionally busy with increased patient volumes in the emergency department, and patients presenting with high acuity needs. This is resulting in some long waits in the ED at times, especially for less-urgent patients,” spokesperson James Wood mentioned in an emailed assertion.

According to Wood, two sufferers from the central zone have been despatched to hospitals in Calgary on Saturday.

“We continue to do all we can to ensure our patients receive the care they need, when they need it,” he mentioned.

“We recognize that such measures can be frustrating and stressful for patients and their families, and we regret any inconvenience caused.”

Diversions on the rise, medical doctors say

“We have been very concerned about diversions at the hospital,” mentioned Dr. Kym Jim, an inner medication specialist and spokesperson for the advocacy group, the Society for Hospital Expansion in central Alberta.

“We basically cannot meet the demands of the population of central Alberta as we should be able to.”

According to Jim, whereas emergency division diversions usually are not that frequent — taking place a handful of instances a 12 months lately — there are a rising variety of diversions in different departments.

Over the final month, staffing shortages have prompted roughly a dozen events the place cardiology and common inner medication sufferers needed to be diverted to Edmonton and Calgary, he mentioned.

There have been various gastroenterology diversions as nicely, he added, noting crucial instances akin to gastrointestinal bleeds have been despatched elsewhere.

“A diversion … was something that rarely if ever happened before a year to year and a half ago and have now become commonplace,” he mentioned.

“A citizen of central Alberta is not going to get care in as timely a fashion as they used to.… When there is a delay in care, inevitably worse outcomes will occur.”

Last 12 months, the provincial authorities promised  $1.8- billion in funding for a long-awaited hospital growth in Red Deer.

But with few particulars and years of development forward, Jim and the advocacy group have been calling for a transition plan for the interim interval.

“We need an immediate plan for what to do in Red Deer,” Jim mentioned. “We can’t wait for this new hospital to be built to address the acute issues that exist in the hospital today.”

So far, he mentioned, they’ve acquired no response.

Meanwhile, AHS mentioned it is taking various steps to handle affected person demand, together with discharging sufferers who may be supported at residence and sending sufferers to smaller hospitals within the zone.