“Both ER’s handing out [off load delay]’s like cheap suits”
REGINA - Today, Official Opposition Health Critic Vicki Mowat and Rural and Remote Health Critic Matt Love called on Scott Moe’s Sask. Party government to fix their failed health plan in light of new documents that show a health system on the brink of collapse.
“Our hospitals are on the brink of collapse and these ambulance logs show the damage done by 16 years of Sask. Party mismanagement,” said Mowat. “Hallway healthcare is turning into parking lot healthcare and the Sask. Party government is in complete denial. Band-aid solutions won’t cut it when we need full system reform.”
Ambulance logs obtained by an Official Opposition freedom of information request consistently show EMS and hospital staff working short and in “unbearable” conditions, emergency rooms at or over capacity, and ambulances waiting upwards of ten hours to off load patients:
Jan. 2: General such a mess all day.
Jan. 3: Ran out of hospital beds in Pasqua back hallway. Called Stacy (site manager) able to get us 3 beds.
Jan. 4: Longest continuous offload 10.5 Hrs.
Jan. 8: Busy all shift. ER’s are FULL…
Jan. 23: Longest continuous offload 9.5 Hrs.
Jan. 26: An almost unbearable night.
Jan. 30: Both ER’s handing out [off load delay]’s like cheap suits; Imperial, Cupar and Milestone doing city calls trying to help.
Jan. 31: Pasqua [off load delay] in afternoon. Medic 38 there for 5 hours and counting at 1730 shift change.
Feb. 1: Crazy busy at start of shift. Moosomin, Indian Head, and Yorkton doing calls in the city for us. Multiple calls holding for the first half of shift.
Feb. 5: Brutally busy night. Just relentless for the crews. Delayed responses; Pasqua ER backed up. They did what they could to get us back out the door. Down a bunch of nurses.
Feb. 6: Non stop all night. Multiple/extended [off load delay]’s at RGH- 10 hrs.
Feb. 8: Long offloads at both places with stacking 6 deep at Pasqua.
Feb. 9: Pasqua ER had way too many patients in the back hall. We had 8, and there were rural units back there too. Bad deal over there.
Feb. 12: Delayed responses to pts. Call volume stupid high.
Feb. 13: Heavy off loads at RGH. They were down six nurses tonight. A few less at Pasqua; Extremely busy day (-6 at times), crews 10-18’d. Off load delay’s at RGH multiple and extended (7 stacked). Both hospitals 4 hrs and counting.
“EMS workers, nurses and doctors are completely overwhelmed, and Moe’s minister hasn’t introduced any real incentives to keep them in Saskatchewan,” said Love. “This government is sitting on a billion-dollar surplus. There’s no excuse for Saskatchewan to be trailing the national race to hire and retain health workers.”
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