Overcrowding in the Burnaby Hospital’s emergency room is leading to unsafe conditions for patients and workers, according to the Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU).
The hospital has invoked its overcapacity protocol on and off for two months, according to Fraser Health, and the facility was at its highest level of overcapacity (OCP 3) as recently as Monday.
“What it means practically on the ground is that there are a lot of patients being cared for in halls,” HEU communications director Mike Old told the NOW. “That’s not conducive to the best of care for patients.”
It could also put workers at risk, he said.
“Our members have raised concerns with local managers about both patient beds and hospital equipment like linen carts blocking emergency exits,” he said.
The union attributes the problem to the hospital running over capacity with inadequate resources.
But Fraser Health’s interim CEO, David Ostrow, told the NOW the local health care facility has actually done a lot of innovative work to improve overcrowding in its emergency room, including creating a “supertrack” area to separate urgent and non-urgent patients.
“Believe it or not, it would be a lot worse if they hadn’t done a lot of things that they’ve done,” Ostrow said.
Concerns about emergency room overcrowding come on the heels of a provincial review of Fraser Health that pointed to major problems at Burnaby Hospital.
Released by the health ministry last week, the report said the local health-care facility showed “flags in nearly all patient-safety indicators” and was among the worst in Canada for indicators like hospital acquired infections and fractures, readmission rates, and treating patients with fractured hips within 48 hours.
Hospital officials said some of the data used in the report were two years old and that significant progress on patient care has been made in the interim.
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