Nurse shortage has some very worried
Posted By Angela Brown, Central Plains Herald-Leader
Posted 2 months ago
Some Regional Health Authority — Central Manitoba Inc. staff are worried how a shortage of nurses is affecting the staffing and operations at Portage District General Hospital in Portage la Prairie.
Based on the latest record of vacancies for nurses in the Central RHA, there are currently openings for 26 nurses throughout the region.
"Overall, the nursing shortage is better than it was a number of months ago, (for) Central Region in general ....," said Dr. Denis Fortier, vice-president of medical services for the Central RHA, on Nov. 13. "There is some concern about nursing positions ... in the Emergency Room in Portage .... That is something that needs to be looked at."
Dr. David Kinnear, chief of staff of Portage District General Hospital, sent a letter to Manitoba Minister of Health Theresa Oswald on Oct. 23, addressing his concerns about how a shortage of nurses is affecting operations at Portage's local hospital that serves the northern half of the Central RHA.
"Due to these shortages, there have been a number of curtailments of on-call nursing for the Operating Room, and difficulties arise in planning for appropriate accommodations of our surgical patients in a timely manner," he said in his letter. "Moreover, beds in our brand new Emergency Room have had to be closed so that the Intensive Care Unit can remain open."
Kinnear asked for a meeting with Oswald to discuss the nursing situation at Portage District General Hospital.
"Right now, in order to keep the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the Emergency Rooms staffed, the RHA has had to reduce the number of beds in the Emergency Room," said Kinnear, in an interview with the Herald-Leader on Nov. 17. "Physical changes to the Emergency Room and ICU's was meant to improve patient safety and to deal with the increased numbers of patients that we are seeing. But, in order to have the extra rooms available, and patient areas to be seen, we need more staffing. We just don't have that yet."
When comparing nursing positions in the regional centres of the RHA, there are roughly the same number of nursing positions in Boundary Trails Health Centre in Winkler as there are in Portage's hospital, noted Dr. Fortier.
"Where there (are) differences is where those nurses are working," explained Fortier. "I think that is the concern right now. Relative to other sites, there may be less nurses working in the Portage ER. We are trying to look at that and study it to see if there is anything that can be done about that."
Chief executive officer Kathy McPhail said the Central RHA will be discussing the nursing staffing situation at Portage District General Hospital with Dr. Kinnear.
"We have had vacancies. Certainly it has been a big concern in Portage and elsewhere in the region," she said on Nov. 16. "But there has been high vacancy rates in Portage."
McPhail noted about 20 nurses who arrived from the Philippines in the spring have completed their exams and expect to receive their full licensing in the next few weeks. They will be able to work more independently throughout the Central region after that.
McPhail stressed patient care is not affected by any nursing shortages at Portage's hospital.
"I don't think anyone has been turned away," McPhail said. "We can review waiting times, and see if there is an increase in waiting times. Now with H1N1, it is to be expected that there would be an increase in some wait times. I know that activity has increased in all of our emergency rooms across the province."
As well, McPhail said ER beds at Portage's hospital are not being closed. She said patients are assessed for treatment personally, noting rooms are used on a rotational basis as needed by patients, and resources are put in place accordingly.
On behalf of Manitoba Health Minister Theresa Oswald, spokesman Matt Williamson commented the department is willing to meet with Central RHA representatives to discuss any concerns with staffing at Portage District General Hospital.
Williamson noted the province has added 11 per cent more nurses to the Central Region since 2000 in addition to nearly $8 million in capital investment in Portage District General Hospital, including emergency room redevelopment, pharmacy expansion and diagnostic suite expansion.
"We remain committed to working with CRHA (Central Region Health Authority) to continue to meet their staffing requirements," he noted in an e-mail.
abrown@cpheraldleader.com
