ER patients at Moncton's Dumont hospital warned to expect longer waits

Patients heading to the emergency department at the Dr. Georges-L-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton can expect to face longer than usual wait times.

Last Friday, the Vitalité Health Network reduced the number of stretchers in the emergency room from 17 to 10 because of the ongoing nursing shortage.

"This difficult but necessary decision has been made in conjunction with the facility's physicians and nursing staff" to ensure patient safety, president and CEO Gilles Lanteigne said in a statement.

Having fewer stretchers for patients who are either under observation or awaiting a bed in one of the hospital's care units will reduce the ER's intake capacity.

The situation will be re-evaluated on May 13, said Allison White, the director of nursing for the health network.

"We're looking at a lot of different solutions," she said.

These include training nurses who are already working in the hospital to work in the ER, she said. Longer-term initiatives could include international recruitment and recruiting more students.

"Only time will tell" if such measures will be enough to solve the growing shortage of nurses, said White.

In the meantime, patients may face waits of several hours, particularly in non-critical cases, she said.

Patients will continue to be triaged based on their symptoms and the most serious cases will be treated first.

No patients are being diverted to the Moncton Hospital ER.

"Not at this point," said White. That is an option if the situation becomes critical, she said.

But both hospitals have been struggling with overcrowding in the past few months.

Vitalité is asking non-urgent patients to avoid the ER and make an appointment with their family doctor, visit a walk-in clinic or call Tele-Care at 811 instead.