Green leader calls for changes to Fredericton ER after 'pandemonium' over holidays

After patients faced overcrowding and long waits in Fredericton's emergency room over the holidays, New Brunswick  Green Party Leader David Coon is calling for immediate changes and more funding.

This week, several patients told CBC News about what they called filthy and overcrowded conditions as they sought care at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital, including waits of about 20 hours in some cases.  

Dr. Yogi Sehgal, an emergency doctor at the Chalmers, said going into work over the holidays was "heartbreaking." At one point, he said, there were about 40 people in the waiting room, 30 in-patients occupying the emergency room beds, and around 12 ambulances in the back hallway with patients waiting to be offloaded.

He said staff went out to the waiting room to tell patients about the delay.

"There were people in tears and just at the end, they actually applauded because they were at least thankful for the information, they could make a better decision, which is really strange," he recalled of that one night. 

"But for me, it was heartbreaking to see. There's a young mom with a baby. And there's a couple of older people in wheelchairs, and …I feel terrible for them, because 'I could actually see you if I had the resources to do it.'"

Coon wants to see the provincial government  put more money into solving the crisis. Funding is needed for more overnight ER doctors and for additional space for short-stay wards so patients have beds to wait in, avoiding overcrowded hallways and waiting rooms. 

"What are they waiting for? I don't know," Coon said in an interview with Shift.

Coon said he regularly gets complaints from constituents about overcrowding, long waits and understaffing at the Chalmers, which is in his Fredericton South riding. The ER normally operates at 100 per cent capacity, he said.

"It's because of the systemic problem," he said. "When you get a real pulse of demand in the ER ... it can become like pandemonium."

One of the main problems is overcrowding, because no beds are immediately available for patients as they arrive, he said, leading to patients using exam rooms as waiting rooms, which ties up space and resources. 

According to Coon, only one doctor staffs the ER after midnight at the hospital, and he wants to see more funding so more doctors can work that shift.

"Ambulances come in with car crashes," he said. "Heart attacks come in that need to be dealt with right away. The backlog builds up through the night."

Sehgal said the emergency department during the holidays was a "perfect storm," with a rise in respiratory illnesses, an aging New Brunswick population, holiday closures at primary care offices and in-patient beds being filled with people waiting for nursing home spots and home care. He called the system "under resourced."

He said the majority of people are kind and supportive while waiting for care, and he is always amazed at how long people will wait.

"They wait 20 hours and they're thankful to get in, and like 20 hours for anything is ridiculous. I think we hit the record at 31 [hours] the other day."

Sehgal said the problem has been decades in the making. He said when beds are filled upstairs with people waiting for community care, it has a "trickle down effect" on the emergency department.

In a statement emailed to CBC News, Health Minister Bruce Fitch said his department is aware of capacity and staffing problems at hospitals in the province. 

Fitch blamed the problems on respiratory virus season and said health-care workers are doing their best. He also added that the problem is not unique to New Brunswick and is happening elsewhere in Canada.

The statement said that the province's two health authorities, Horizon and Vitalité, are responsible for hospital management and he has been "having discussions" with both to find immediate solutions.

Maria Richard of the New Brunswick Nurses Union was more direct. In an emailed statement. She said the issue is "unsafe staffing levels."

"Understaffed nurses are being tasked with caring for patients, clients, and residents in situations that are unsafe for everyone involved," Richard said.

"Providing services to the public with less than adequate staffing levels creates a chaotic environment that nurses have had to endure for far too long, and it's taking a toll on everyone."

Richard's statement went on to call for the government to devote more resources to the "human resources aspect" of health care.

While he appreciates the province setting up urgent care clinics in Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John to help keep people out of the ERs, Coon said even those are understaffed and have been drawing staff from the ER themselves.

The Fredericton urgent care centre is currently only open two days a week, Coon said.

He said that doctors have been calling for more funding and a solution to overcrowded waiting rooms for nearly a decade.

"Why are they not being implemented? Why are they ignoring this problem? That's just bad governance."

Coon said it comes down to a "tremendous need" for recruitment and retention, "and that needs a willingness to spend some money." 

"So money can help solve the problem, and I don't want to hear from another politician in government that money's not the answer. Because in this case, it is."