Ontario’s premier made a statement recently that had a lot of people scratching their heads – very carefully, to avoid injury that might necessitate a trip to the emergency room.
Especially in rural Ontario, a trip to the local ER is something to be avoided if at all possible.
First, there is a fair chance it might not be open. Gone are the days when a sick person would consult a physician, or at least Telehealth, before heading for the ER. Now they are more likely to check news outlets to see if the ER is among those that have announced temporary closures.
Second, there will be a lengthy wait. Rural hospitals face the same pressures as their city counterparts – COVID-related staff absences, an increased volume of patients whose surgeries were postponed due to the pandemic, and extremely sick patients who delayed visiting the ER a bit too long because they were more scared of COVID than whatever they were suffering from. They also face challenges unique to small hospitals. The ER is likely to be staffed by a doctor – singular – who might get called to assist in surgery or look after a situation elsewhere in the hospital.
Most of us know someone who left an ER after several hours, without having seen a doctor, because they were hungry, exhausted and sick.
Premier Doug Ford announced just after the August long weekend that Ontarians are still getting the care they need, when they need it, despite a statement from the Ontario Nurses’ Association that 14 hospitals around the province had closures and service cuts that weekend.
COVID restrictions may have ended but COVID has not. In addition to dealing with a mind-boggling long list of postponed surgeries and patients awaiting transfer to a long-term care facility, hospitals are still coping with the virus. Although the BA.5 variant is supposed to be less dangerous that its predecessors, it can and does kill. It is certainly efficient at filling up ICUs, and causing last-minute staff sick calls
After two years of serving on the front lines in the battle against COVID, nurses are burning out at a phenomenal rate.
The physical and mental strain of the pandemic has taken a heavy toll – dealing with the need for several layers of masks, gowns and gloves; treating wave after wave of COVID patients; facing the risk getting sick themselves with every shift; working extra shifts to replace sick co-workers; and the icing on the cake – getting threatened by irate anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers.
The premier is no doubt aware that nurses have been leaving their profession at a much higher rate than normal, choosing retirement or other employment.
The pandemic has created options for hospital nurses suffering burnout. Jobs with regular hours and good pay have opened up in public health, the private sector and other provinces and countries.
He is also undoubtedly aware of the growing dissatisfaction among hospital nurses with Bill 124 that holds them to a one per cent pay increase, while our inflation rate is hovering around eight per cent.
Ford speaks of the substantial investments the province has made in health care recently. Providing more money to hire nurses and open hospital beds may look good in a government press release, and will certainly pay off a few years from now, but it is a long-term solution for an immediate crisis.
What we need are some quick and creative fixes. A good start would be cancelling Bill 124. It may not accomplish anything other than removing a major point of frustration for nurses, but that alone makes it a winner.
Stable funding for paramedicine programs is another winner.
As for mobile walk-in clinics and other outside-the-box initiatives, who knows?
The premier may want to listen to what his rural MPPs have to say about health care north of the 401. Fortunately, there are some knowledgeable and creative people in Ford’s government – people with a first-hand knowledge of challenges faced by our hospitals.
