Quebec running out of hospital beds as surge of COVID-19 patients fill emergency rooms
The number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 is expected to continue rising even though emergency rooms are already at full capacity.
The number of patients in Quebec emergency rooms has nearly doubled in the past week and ICU beds are filling up, too.
At this rate, hospitalizations could reach 3,000 within the next few weeks, Quebec health minister Christian Dubé told a news conference on Thursday, just as the province announced 415 more people were admitted to hospital with the virus in one day. There was a total of 1,953 hospitalizations on Thursday.
But Quebec only has 1,500 ER beds.
“When you are beyond the capacity of a hospital, that means that that hospital now starts to ration care,” said Dr. Donald Vinh, an infectious disease specialist with the McGill University Health Centre.
That means not everyone needing emergency care will get it. Right now, unvaccinated patients continue to fill half the ER beds, even though they only account for 10 per cent of the population in Quebec. The Institut national d'excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS) projects the number of patients in intensive care could reach 400 by mid-January, up from the current 207.
Experts say hospitals can't monopolize all their beds for COVID-19 patients.
“People can continue to have strokes and heart attacks, motor vehicle accidents and a lot of things we can't prevent or prepare for when people need urgent care,” said Dr. Vinh.
Tough choices could lie ahead when people arrive at admissions.
“Hospitals have had to put back in place their committees to carefully examine the prioritization of patients to make sure everyone who has an urgent or semi-urgent need for surgery is prioritized,” said Dr. Lucie Opartny, Quebec's associate deputy health minister.
The lack of beds is further compounded by an increasing shortage of health-care staff, due to illness or exhaustion.
Christian Dubé, Quebec’s health minister, said Thursday there are 20,000 health-care workers who are off the job due to COVID-19, which is in addition to about 50,000 workers who are on long-term sick leave for other reasons, including burnout.
Dubé said he's looking everywhere for help.
“There is a pool of people who can come back and they're either retired or in private agencies,” he said.
The rapid rise in hospitalizations is adding even more pressure on an overextended medical system and that's forcing doctors and nurses to improvise even more.
In some hospitals, nurses say they're now doing jobs normally handled by nursing assistants. At the Pierre-Le Gardeur Hospital in Terrebonne, Que., a group of doctors are now coming in on their days off to take over nursing duties.
“Nurses remain specialists in their field but we can help them by looking at lab tests, taking vital signs and doing patient checks,” said Dr. James Tu, an ER doctor at the hospital.
However, it remains a short-term solution in a rapidly deteriorating environment.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
'Sophisticated' cyberattacks detected on B.C. government networks, premier says
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Canucks claw out 5-4 comeback win over Oilers in Game 1
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
Nijjar murder suspect says he had Canadian study permit in immigration firm's video
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.