Alberta health-care workers say they're demoralized, exhausted as patient surge looms this fall

Health-care workers say they're demoralized and are being left to shoulder the burden of yet another influx of patients to Alberta emergency rooms as the respiratory virus season looms.

"It's gonna hit us pretty hard this fall. We're already at maximum capacity so it's going to be a long fall," said Dr. Arun Abbi, a Calgary emergency room physician.

He said the surge has yet to hit and emergency departments are already so full patients often line hallways on stretchers as staff scramble to keep up.

"I think people are pretty frustrated. There is a bit of disillusionment and a bit of cynicism,"

In a recent note to health-care workers, the president and CEO of Alberta Health Services warned of the expected wave.

"As we enter respiratory season, we expect the demands across the health system to increase and there will be further capacity challenges," said Athana Mentzelopoulos.

The message said a number of steps will be taken, including increasing capacity and using EMS offload protocols when the system is at critical capacity and there are limited or no ambulances available.

When this happens, paramedics can be released to respond to calls rather than waiting in the ER with certain patients.  

'Do more with less'

"We're filling every space already. We're doing everything we can," said Dr. Paul Parks, who recently ended his term as president of the Alberta Medical Association.

"This is another call to do more with less while our government is choosing not to act."

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According to Parks, who works as an ER physician in Medicine Hat, Alberta's emergency departments are often filled with admitted patients who can't be moved to the wards because there are no available beds.

At the same time, staffing is stretched, he said.

He's calling on the provincial government to ensure AHS is adequately resourced to deal with patient loads.

Burnout already a factor

"Nurses are already exhausted in Alberta," said Jennifer Jackson, a registered nurse and assistant professor in the faculty of nursing at the University of Calgary.

"It's very concerning that we're about to hit our busy season — with increased cases of COVID and influenza — and now we're going to be asked to do much more and we haven't been given any additional resources."

When CBC News asked Health Minister Adriana LaGrange about the government's plans to address the fall surge, she said Alberta has been recruiting doctors, nurses and other health professionals and plans are in the works to make room for additional patients.

"They always have the ability to access their surge capacity and I know right now that the CEO of Alberta Health Services is looking to make sure that is staffed appropriately so that it doesn't overburden any one particular staff grouping," LaGrange said during a press conference in Calgary on Wednesday.

"We know that we can bring on additional capacity and we as a government always take the safety and security of Albertans very, very seriously,"

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Alberta Health Services acknowledged the strain on the system and said it is working to provide support.

"Respiratory illness season can be a busy time for hospitals, and we are taking proactive steps to ensure patients receive the care they need," spokesperson Kerry Williamson said in an emailed statement.

"We have a fluid system that allows us to expand capacity as needed to meet patient demand."

He said the health authority will take a number of steps in the coming weeks including opening approximately 200 temporary, acute-care beds in the province and hiring temporary staff, including nurses, physician assistants and nurse practitioners, to cover off those beds.

"Additionally, we have maintained 305 temporary continuing-care spaces to improve patient flow through our hospitals. And, as always, our aggressive recruitment of physicians, nurses, and paramedics continues, and we are seeing some success."

When it comes to EMS offload, Williamson said AHS is committed to providing the necessary support and resources to health-care workers.

"We recognize the challenges faced when emergency departments are busy. Our EMS offload initiative focuses on improving co-ordination between frontline EMS crews and hospital teams, expediting patient transfers to ensure EMS can quickly return to the community".

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For his part, Abbi is skeptical staffing can be beefed up enough to make a difference.

"I think they're recruiting a lot of foreign-trained nurses, which is great to have the extra staff. I don't think we'll be able to increase the physician capacity any more than we have this fall. For sure, in [emergency] that's the case," said Abbi, adding doctors are tired and looking to work less.

"There's 25 physicians [in the Calgary zone] who have asked for reduced workload. And we were told to wait at least a year to two years."

According to Jackson, staff members have done everything they can to find efficiencies in the system.

And she's worried about the impact on patients in months to come, including cancelling elective surgeries. 

"In order to be able to surge we have to have slack in the system in the first place. There is no slack," she said.