Sudbury’s hospital operating at 121% capacity

Health Sciences North in Sudbury is dealing with near-record patient numbers and is operating at 121 per cent of capacity.

Health Sciences North in Sudbury says it has been operating at overcapacity with what could be record-breaking numbers of patients in need of care.

HSN spokesperson Jason Turnbull said Wednesday the hospital is currently at 121 per cent capacity.

“Our day began at 7 a.m. with about 19 patients waiting to be admitted to the hospital through the emergency department,” Turnbull said.

“That means we have patients in hallways being cared for, patients in unconventional spaces (and) we know that’s not ideal. People get the very best care from our people. But it is cramped.”

As of Wednesday morning, there were 634 patients admitted to HSN. The previous high recorded last years was in February and March at 621 patients.

Turnbull said hospitals across Ontario are seeing very high number of patients because it is the peak of cold and flu season.

“So really what we ask of everybody as they come to HSN for care is to please be patient and kind with our teams,” he said.

“They are working extremely hard to provide the very best care possible for people, but it is cold and flu season. Things take a little bit longer.”

Cold and flu season

Things got especially tough last Friday, Turnbull said, when they were caring for about 23 patients who were on ventilators.

“So there was zero capacity for more patients in those circumstances,” he said.

“In some cases, we had some patients who were in the ICU and in critical care, and we had to move them to different parts of the hospital.”

The situation forced them to close HSN temporarily to regional patient transfers.

“Due to patient safety and making sure that we could provide the very best quality of care for patients,” Turnbull said.

“We remained open for Espanola, Manitoulin Island and Elliot Lake because those areas don’t really have anywhere else to send anyone that is relatively close.”

He said that within 24 hours, HSN was able to accept transfers again.

Michael Hurley is the president of the union that represents hospital service workers, registered practical nurses, housekeeping, trades, clerical staff, and ambulance and paramedical personnel, said 85 per cent capacity for hospitals is discouraged because of safety concerns, let alone 121 per cent.

“Staff, is now working at, you know, over 100 per cent capacity and it’s impossible to sustain that without error,” Hurley said.

Denied dignity

“People are being turned away. I imagine that people are waiting on stretchers for unconscionable periods of time and conditions where they are denied the dignity of being able to be treated with privacy.”

He said bed capacity has to be increased in the short-term to ensure the safety of people who need care.

“What we need to do is invest in the hospitals by adding beds and staff in the short-term so that we can meet the demands,” Hurley said.

“This is not something that will go on forever. People like me will die and this problem will eventually go away. The population cohort behind us is much smaller.”

In response to a request from CTV News, Ontario’s Ministry of Health sent a statement that said, in part:

“Ontario is proud to have one of the largest publicly funded health-care systems in the world, and under the leadership of Premier Ford, we are making record investments to connect families to the care they need, where and when they need it.”

“In addition to adding a record 100,000 new nurses and 15,000 new physicians to our workforce, the largest in Canada, since 2018, we are continuing to break down barriers, expand education programs and increase opportunities to grow Ontario’s health-care workforce for years to come.”