The crush of ambulances outside Red Deer’s hospital earlier this week to move patients in and out of an overwhelmed hospital happens far too often in Alberta, says the union president representing paramedics.
On Monday a photo shared on Twitter captured the scene outside Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre where 14 ambulances were lined up.
“You find this exact same photo in Calgary and Edmonton as well. These crews are no longer in the communities where they are supposed to be protecting those who are the most vulnerable,” said Mike Parker, president of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta.
Alberta Health Services said more ambulances than usual were at the hospital because of a surge in demand in recent days due to many seriously ill patients, a rise in COVID-19 cases requiring hospitalization, and staff absences.
Two inpatient units were also on COVID-19 outbreaks, one of which is closed to new admissions which further impacts the availability of beds.
The NDP says the hospital faces added pressure because of hospital closures across central Alberta. Rimbey, Rocky Mountain House, Sundre, Three Hills, and Hanna all are experiencing bed closures and service reductions at their hospitals due to UCP-driven staff shortages.
“The UCP’s damage to care is so severe that instead of accessing a hospital, patients are being cared for in a parking lot. I can’t imagine how the patient and EMS crew in that 14th ambulance must have felt as they sat queued up behind 13 others, waiting to get to the emergency room,” said NDP health critic David Shepherd in a statement.
He said the province is experiencing an emergency in ambulance wait times, doctors are leaving the province at record rates, and medical student residency positions in Alberta are going unfilled across the province.
“The UCP’s hostility is driving health workers out of the province which is leading to the hospital closures, surgery cancellations, long ambulance wait times, and parking lot medicine that central Alberta is experiencing,” added Shepherd who said he spoke with frontline healthcare staff in Red Deer feeling burnt out and neglected.
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Patients transferred due to surge in demand for Red Deer hospital beds
Mayor Ken Johnston said unfortunately the need to use overcapacity protocols is not new for the hospital that has been stretched far beyond its capacity to serve central Alberta.
Not much has changed through the years as the community has sought a much-needed hospital expansion, and the wait continues, he said.
“The bed capacity is unchanged. The strain on the staff is unchanged. The ability to treat cardiac episodes, completely unchanged,” Johnston said.
In February Premier Jason Kenney announced $1.8 billion to redevelop and expand Red Deer hospital after initially pledging $100 million three years ago for the first phase of improvements. Construction was to start in 2021.
The mayor said it’s frustrating that a plan has not yet been shared.
“We continue, continue to ask for a plan. We were grateful, and remain grateful for the funding. What we need to see is a plan going forward,” Johnston said.
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Alberta’s ambulance system in dire need of more ambulances, paramedics: HSAA president
Parker added when beds in central Alberta hospitals are closed the only lifeline people have to the health-care system are paramedics, and there are more health-care concerns that the province has neglected.
“This is a full, health-care system that has failed to act on COVID issues, that has failed to act on the opioid crisis, and this is what it looks like.”
He said paramedics aren’t the only healthcare workers feeling the strain. The population has grown in Alberta, meanwhile, there are less beds today than there were 20 years ago, and hospital staff are exhausted.
“They’ve been running for over two years now at a level that is Herculean in my mind, and no relief. This is just chaos.”
Summer means more travel and injuries, and little hope for health care workers to take time off. Forty per cent of Health Sciences Association of Alberta members already either want to reduce their hours on the job, or leave Alberta, he said.
“If you look back to the Klein years in the 90s, our folks went to New Zealand, Texas, England, and didn’t come back.”
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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