An urgent care center in Brampton is the latest emergency center in Ontario forced to reduce hours due to widespread staffing problems.
Peel Memorial Hospital will close its center on Sunday at 5 p.m., instead of the usual closing time at 9 p.m.
ATTENTION: The Peel Memorial Urgent Care Center will close at 5:00 pm today, July 10th.
The emergency departments of Brampton Civic Hospital and Etobicoke General Hospital are open for urgent or emergency care.
– William Osler Health System (@OslerHealth) July 10, 2022
“Like many hospitals, we are experiencing human resource challenges and continue to explore all strategies to help our teams continue to provide exemplary care to our community,” William Osler said in response to questions about when the center will reopen.
“As always, our top priority remains the health and safety of our patients, staff, doctors, volunteers and our community. We call for the understanding of our community at this difficult time.”
The center will reopen on Monday with the usual schedule. The emergency departments of Brampton Civic Hospital and Etobicoke General Hospital remain open.
Emergency rooms and emergency care centers across the province have suffered reduced hours, consolidated staff and forced closures this month, including Clinton, Kingston and Perth Hospitals, Ont.
Labor shortages have been fueled by workers leaving hospital positions or the profession after more than two grueling years on the front lines of the pandemic, say organizations representing nurses, doctors and public hospitals in the world. the province.
“The shortage of staff is (due to) the exhaustion and departure of people,” the president of the Ontario Nurses Association, Cathryn Hoy, said in an interview last week.
“But why they’re burning is because they come in for an eight- or 12-hour shift and they stay there for 16 hours. Sometimes they stay there for 24 hours.”
Hoy said he has heard from nurses who have reported emergency rooms with temporary staff of a single nurse to cover 30 patients, some hospitals with dozens of unoccupied ER sites and patients cared for in the hallways.
“A nurse can’t be everywhere,” she said.
The Ontario Ministry of Health has said the province is working to strengthen the capacity of the workforce, offering bonuses for retaining global amounts and providing funds to hire more nurses to target areas across the province.
With files from The Canadian Press.