Surge capacity forces Saskatoon hospital to expand ER into waiting room

The waiting room at St. Paul's Hospital in Saskatoon was turned into an extension of the emergency department on Monday due to overcapacity.

The waiting room was turned into patient care cubicles on Monday at 6 a.m. CST, according to the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN). 

"We spoke with registered nurses from St Paul's Hospital yesterday and they shared with us that this is the worst they've ever seen it," SUN president Tracy Zambory said Tuesday in an interview with Sam Maciag, host of CBC Saskatchewan News at 6.

"It's wide open in front of windows. There's no privacy. Imagine if your loved one comes in there with a heart attack and has to be treated in the waiting room," Zambory said, insisting that nurses' top concern is patient safety.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) confirmed hospitals across Saskatchewan, including those in Saskatoon and Regina, are experiencing capacity challenges, especially in the emergency departments.

"There were three spaces created for patients in the waiting room at St. Paul's Hospital Emergency Department, which required moving some of the waiting room chairs from the dedicated waiting room," wrote Graham Blue, executive director of acute care in Saskatoon hospitals, in a prepared statement.

"This was to try to achieve some capacity for the sickest patients to receive care in the Emergency Department proper."

Twenty-five visits (out of 85) to the adjacent ambulatory care department had to be rescheduled, according to Blue. The department provides several services including wound care, minor treatments and procedures.

CBC News could not verify the source of the above photo, which was submitted to CBC, but multiple sources within the health-care system have confirmed it depicts the St. Paul's waiting room being used for patient care on Monday.

The waiting room appeared to be back to normal operations when CBC visited it early Tuesday afternoon. 

As of 5 p.m. CST, 21 patients in St. Paul's emergency department were admitted without having a bed, according to the Saskatoon Health Region Current Capacity Report, which is updated online every five minutes. 

"There's going to be pressure on the hospitals to think about who they can discharge. People then get discharged before they should to try to get rid of this flow that's stuck in the emergency room," Zambory said.

Zambory has a clear message for Saskatchewan residents.

 "Don't get sick. Don't get hurt. Put your kids in bubble wrap because you can't be going to an emergency room in this province right now because the chances are you're going to have to sit and wait for it," she said.

Nurses burned out

Zambory said union members are overwhelmed by the relentless health-care pressures. 

"It's taking such a toll on their mental health. They're leaving every day crying," Zambory said. 

"They can't keep the stress up. They are not unbreakable. And they are starting to break under the pressure of this."

Zambory is calling on the provincial government to reinstate the indoor mask mandate. This comes as Canada's Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam confirmed Tuesday that the country is in a sixth wave of COVID.

Saskatoon has seen a massive increase in the viral load detected in its wastewater.

On Monday, researchers from the University of Saskatchewan released their latest report, showing a 742 per cent increase in viral load taken from sewage samples in Saskatoon compared to the previous week.

The amount of viral load in wastewater also increased in Prince Albert and North Battleford. In Regina, the latest similar study from the University of Regina simply says the levels "remain high."

The NDP's health critic says the Opposition is concerned by what ER capacity issues mean for the health system as a whole.

"Our emergency departments, we know that they are the canary in the coal mine for the whole health-care system," said Vicki Mowat on Tuesday. "There simply are not the beds available to allow for people to leave the emergency department, which puts additional pressures throughout the whole system."

Health Minister Paul Merriman said the government is not considering mask mandates at this time.

"Our hospital capacity is increasing for other reasons, not just COVID related, but also general admissions. We've opened up our hospitals where we had them somewhat tightened up in the fall. We're opening it up for other admissions and other surgeries, which also obviously increases our capacity too," said Merriman on Tuesday.

"The hospitals should be running very close to 100 per cent. There are some areas, certainly in Saskatoon, where they're exceeding 100 per cent. And that's why we're trying to load level across the system."