Province says Northern Health Region rescinds emergency declaration

CTV’s Harrison Shin has more on a whirlwind of messages over critical staff shortages in the Northern Health Region.

A Manitoba health region has rescinded a state of emergency triggered by staffing shortages at two northern hospitals, the province said.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara told CTV News the Northern Health Region’s declaration triggered by understaffing at Thompson General Hospital and The Pas General Hospital was premature and is now rescinded.

The Manitoba Nurses Union (MNU) said Tuesday the health authority had declared the state of emergency, noting ‘critical’ staffing numbers in Thompson’s operating rooms, specialized care unit and the emergency and obstetrics departments and The Pas’ emergency department and specialized care unit.

Prior to news the state of emergency had been rescinded, MNU President Darlene Jackson said in a statement there have been “sustained, urgent warnings” about staffing that have not been addressed.

“This crisis was not inevitable,” Jackson wrote. “It could have been mitigated had government acted on repeated recommendations to properly resource the Provincial Travel Nurse Team and implement meaningful retention and recruitment strategies for northern facilities. Or retention strategies in general.

“This did not happen overnight.”

Health-care advocate Katrina Koop, who worked at the Thompson General Hospital, said the state of emergency impacts not only the staff, but the many communities they serve, as well.

“When people think Thompson is only 10 or 15,000 people, it’s not. They serve 28 other communities outside of Thompson,” she explained.

“If they’re already having a staffing shortage and then you add the 28 communities outside of Thompson? It’s detrimental.”

Staff shortages mean nurses work lengthy shifts, Koop explained, sometimes enduring violent conditions.

“I’ve been bitten. I’ve been assaulted,” she said. “I’ve worked 16 hours in a row without going to the bathroom, without eating. It exhausts me.”

- With files from CTV’s Harrison Shin