An Ontario nurses’ union says it fears a shortage of healthcare workers could worsen in the Toronto area after a city hospital network had to use nursing students and medical residents to support a emergency department during the weekend.
The University Health Network said Monday that it was in a “very tight staffing situation over the weekend” and that one ER was supported by staff from various units, including medical residents, staff personal support and nursing students.
UHN also said inpatient units expedited discharges and worked to quickly admit ER patients to wards.
Cathryn Hoy, president of the Ontario Nurses Association, said it was “shocking” that a Toronto hospital had to ask for support to keep its ER open, noting that recent temporary ER closures s ‘have largely concentrated in rural areas.
“It’s a Band-Aid. It tells me it’s the tip of the iceberg and we’re in trouble,” Hoy said in an interview Monday.
UHN operates two ERs, at Toronto General and Toronto Western hospitals, but did not say which was affected over the weekend.
RELATED: Toronto Western Hospital ER ‘covers’ over weekend after risking closure amid staffing shortages
The staffing crisis at the hospital network comes after smaller hospitals in Perth, Alexandria, Clinton, Listowel and Wingham have had to close their emergency rooms for hours or even days in recent weeks, and administrators they cited staff shortages.
Hoy said the province is struggling to retain nurses, who he said are burned out after more than two years on the front lines of the pandemic and frustrated by legislation that limits their pay raises to one per cent.
She expects staffing pressures will only increase in Toronto emergency rooms in the coming weeks. And those challenges may be exacerbated over the coming long weekend, when emergency rooms typically see an increase in visits, he said.
“(Hospitals) can’t depend on putting in those pleas for help because … they’re going to continue to burn out,” she said of nurses.
The nurses’ union wants the government to scrap pay cap legislation and fast-track licensing for internationally trained nurses, among other measures.
UHN acknowledged that this weekend’s fixes were short-term fixes. The network said it focused on “longer-term solutions,” including international recruitment and digital health solutions.
Dr. James Maskalyk, an emergency physician at St. Michael and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, said UHN’s temporary response appeared to be effective and showed “a certain amount of creativity.”
But, he warned, it was not sustainable and risked taxing other parts of the hospital system.
“Nurses are the experts,” she said. And anything “less than their expertise,” such as students or medical staff from other units, could mean that “patients may not receive prompt care in a way that would be in the hands of an expert.”
The Ontario government has said it is working to address health care workforce capacity, including with global retention bonuses and funds to hire nurses to target specific areas of the province.
Premier Doug Ford also recently said he would take inflation into account during upcoming health care contract negotiations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 25, 2022.