Emergency room in Brandon short staffed

BRANDON — The health minister has acknowledged short staffing has created problems at the Brandon hospital emergency department.

“This is, I would say, a long-standing challenge and it’s also a national challenge. We know that there’s a national shortage of ED physicians,” Uzoma Asagwara told the Brandon Sun Tuesday.

The province is tackling the problem from “every possible angle,” including by offering financial incentives, they said.

“That incentive has … helped to stabilize the commitment of baseline hours for doctors in Brandon’s emergency department and it’s also resulted in an additional 700 (annual) hours being added to the schedule,” Asagwara said.

Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said while the emergency department is supposed to have two doctors on call, “fairly often” only one physician is actually working.

“The fact that they only have one on in Brandon hospital is worrisome because it is a very busy emergency department,” she said. “Not only just with the city of Brandon, but they have a fairly large catchment area.”

She said she isn’t surprised there have been complaints from residents and city officials because the setup isn’t sustainable.

Regarding the increase in public complaints despite the added hours, Asagwara said, “Two things can be true at the same time.”

A woman who went to the Brandon Regional Health Centre with her adult daughter last month said she was “shocked” by how patients were being triaged and how long the wait times were.

Brenda, who declined to give her surname, said she worked at the hospital for 45 years, 30 of them in the ER.

She said she arrived around 9 p.m. on July 21, and at 2 a.m. was told her daughter likely wouldn’t be seen until later that morning.

One of the nurses told her that there were no beds in the ER because there weren’t enough physicians on the floor.

“Our system is crumbling onto itself,” Brenda said.

She said she raised her concerns with the mayor’s office, the regional health authority, the premier’s office and the health minister, but didn’t hear back. She then went to Brandon West MLA Wayne Balcaen, who reached out to the media.

Balcaen said he’s been approached by several people who work at the hospital and they say conditions aren’t improving.

“Many of the health-care workers are tired, they’re burnt out, they’re exhausted and they’re seeing that things aren’t improving in the system for them,” Balcaen said about the ER.

He said he wants to see staffing raised to proper levels.

“I’m concerned that eventually our ER will be shut down or not be able to admit patients or look at people if this continues.”

Jackson said 11 to 15 per cent of people don’t have a primary care provider, which means more people need to make trips to the ER, which worsens the situation.

She wants a second physician or nurse practitioner available so patients get treated and discharged faster.

Home care and long-term care facilities also need to be improved, so more people are moved out of hospitals, opening up beds and staff resources.

Asagwara on Tuesday said the number of physicians in the department has remained “steady” since February, but that the shortage is an important issue that the province takes “very seriously.”

“You can be doing the work to address challenges and there can still be challenges that persist that need to be addressed,” they said.

Having a second physician or nurse practitioner available in the emergency department is a priority, Asagwara said.

Prairie Mountain Health CEO Treena Slate said last week the health authority remains focused on physician recruitment and retention across the region.

“There have been some physician staffing changes over the past few months, including some decreases in hospitalist coverage areas at Brandon Regional Health Centre,” Slate said.

The closure of Dauphin’s hospital due to flooding has increased patient volumes in Brandon, she said.

“Together, with Shared Health patient flow teams, we are committed to ensuring people across the region have access (to) consistent, safe and required care as close to home as possible. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our front-line staff for their efforts and supports during this challenging time,” Slate said.

— Brandon Sun