Nurse waits hours at Ottawa hospital for appendix surgery
Canada’s medical system is in critical condition. Wait times have reached record highs, while staffing drops to new lows.
Rylan Haas, a nurse in Saskatoon who fell ill while on vacation, says he was faced with a painful wait at an emergency room in Ottawa.
It’s not the stay Haas expected when he travelled to a music festival in Ottawa over the Canada Day long weekend.
“Wednesday morning I woke up with a bunch of stomach pain and that pain migrated down into my lower right quadrant.” Haas told CTV News. “Being a nurse I suspected my appendix had ruptured so I came into the Ottawa general hospital. I got into emergency after seven hours and after 11 hours after being in emergency I saw a doctor then my first CT scan after 13 hours.”
Haas says it was another nearly half-day wait for a surgery, adding that the time it took to receive the needed care added anxiety to an already stressful experience.
I didn’t feel like my voice was being heard,” says Haas.
The Ottawa Hospital says it cannot provide comment on specific patient cases, but in a statement, highlights the staffing difficulties faced by hospitals across the country.
“The Ottawa Hospital, much like other hospitals across Ontario and Canada, is experiencing pressure on emergency department staffing levels due to COVID-related absences, vacations, staff fatigue and burnout,” the statement said.
“The pandemic has taken an incredible toll on health-care providers over the last two+ years. Staffing is often an issue in the summer months as health-care providers take well-earned and much needed time off – this is more challenging today as EDs face the cumulative effect of consecutive years of a pandemic along with planned vacations. Additionally, periodic COVID outbreaks continue to have an impact on available ED staff resources. We will continue adapting as needed to address these staffing challenges, and ensure that patients receive the care they need.”
A nursing shortage has forced some emergency room departments to close. The Perth Hospital ER has been closed for more than three weeks, which has pushed area residents to travel at least 20 minutes to Smiths Falls in order to receive care. It is expected to reopen on July 24.
“The pandemic really added fuel to the fire,” said Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses. “We were living in a nursing shortage pre-pandemic. We were advising government we need to work on training and recruiting and then the pandemic hit.
“So many nurses left the system or went casual because they couldn’t handle the workload. They were mandated to stay at work. They were abused and insulted every day and it wasn’t worth it.”
At a premiers meeting on July 11, Silas issued a call to action, including helping internationally educated nurses enter the Canadian medical system and maintaining retention of current staff.
“We were very happy when they urgently asked Prime Minister Trudeau to call a first ministers meeting, not another study an action plan,” says Silas. “We have to stop the bleeding. We can’t let another nurse, another doctor, another personal care worker leave the system.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake reported off Vancouver Island's west coast
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
Federal government bans watercraft from Manitoba lake popular with tourists
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
Her SUV was stolen in Montreal. A Good Samaritan on Facebook helped her get it back
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.