Strain on Hamilton, Niagara area hospitals continues due to latest COVID-19 wave and staffing shortages

Niagara Health's five hospitals are facing serious staff shortages, as the seventh wave of COVID-19 increases their patient load, the health service said Thursday. 

Staff and physicians are taking extra shifts, postponing their vacation time and scheduled time off to maintain service to their patients, according to a statement.

Hospital staff are unable to rest and recover, and have been "maintaining a gruelling pace since the pandemic began," Niagara Health said. 

"There is no fast fix, no one answer to address the cause, effect or solution to the challenges that have emerged from, or been exacerbated by, the pandemic," it said. 

It also said a high number of job vacancies, combined with rising COVID-19 outbreaks and staff becoming sick, both with COVID and non-COVID illnesses, has added to the strain. Staffing shortages are being felt across the entire Ontario healthcare system, from hospitals to in-home care, to long-term care, it added. 

Niagara Health's website allows patients to see emergency and urgent care wait times. As of Friday afternoon, wait times were as long as four hours. 

Number of patients exceeds number of beds in Burlington

Joseph Brant Hospital, in Burlington, Ont., released a "message to the community" from president and CEO Eric Vandewall on Friday. 

Vandewall said Joseph Brant Hospital is experiencing many of the same issues as Niagara Health. 

According to Vandewall, Joseph Brant Hospital exceeded its acute occupancy in July, meaning they had more patients than beds available in the hospital. 

He said there are patients at Joseph Brant Hospital who are ready to be discharged, but have to wait until home care, retirement homes or long-term care options are available to them. He said that Joseph Brant Hospital has over 2,500 people wait listed for surgery. 

As of Wednesday, 40 healthcare workers with Joseph Brant Hospital were off work with COVID-19, he said.

"Our frontline team of physicians, staff, and volunteers have endured what feels like endless waves of this pandemic," he said in the release.

Hamilton's hospitals also feeling the pressure

Late last month, St. Joe's Healthcare in Hamilton outlined their ongoing struggles with staffing shortages and high patient volume on Twitter.

In the thread, posted July 21, it said that increased demand for hospital services, patients requiring care for more severe illnesses, delayed surgeries, a lack of beds for patients and an increase in patients requiring emergency services are straining factors.  

Hamilton Health Sciences posted a Tweet before the August holiday long weekend noting that Ontario hospitals are "under immense pressure" because of the seventh wave of COVID-19. 

Niagara Health proposes solutions 

Niagara Health said hospital staffing shortages are expected into the next decade, following the stress put on the healthcare system by COVID-19. It is trying different solutions to ease the strain on their staff, however. These solutions include:

• Aggressive recruitment of healthcare workers, though there is a national shortage of trained professionals.
• Replacing nursing staff in emergency departments with other staff members so trained nurses can attend to patients. 
• Working with family doctors and other primary care workers to increase preventative care and serve residents outside of the hospital.
• Working with academic partners to increase education opportunities and bring more healthcare workers in for the future.

Part of Niagara Health's plan to draw in more medical staff is the new South Niagara hospital site. As a modern medical facility, with the latest equipment and technology, Niagara Health says the site is a "recruitment driver" for the region.

Niagara Health also said they continue to "encourage everyone to get vaccinated with available boosters to stay safe and well." 

Meanwhile, in Burlington, Vandewall said asked the community to "please take the time to thank a physician, nurse, or health care worker who you may know, let them know how much they are appreciated and valued."