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Hospital tackles wait times made worse by pandemic

Sault results are six minutes above provincial average
Sault Area Hospital stock-2
Sault Area Hospital file photo. Donna Hopper/SooToday

Health Quality Ont. reports the average wait time for Sault Area Hospital patients to receive a first assessment by a doctor in the emergency department is one hour and 54 minutes, six minutes above provincial average.

“Wait time depends on a number of factors — the number of doctors we have on duty, the number of patients waiting for care, and the amount or type of care they require,” said Brandy Sharp Young, manager of communications and media services at SAH. “Wait times are also longer if a patient requires an x-ray or blood test, if you need to see a specialist or if you need to be admitted.”

These waiting times may be longer than average for a few reasons. 

“On occasion, our Emergency Department gets backed up because the volume of patients in the emergency department exceeds our capacity as defined by the number of physicians, nurses and treatment beds available. Sometimes, there may not be acute care beds available in the hospital to accept patients from the Emergency Department. 

“We work hard on a daily basis to review patient volumes in the Emergency Department and throughout the hospital to ensure there is as much capacity as possible, and we have processes in place to maximize patient flow throughout the facility.”

Provincially, the pandemic has made a difficult situation worse:

The Ontario Ministry of Health suspended all non-essential surgeries amid the first COVID-19 wave. Then, when hospitals were permitted to offer full service in May, 2020, many could not cope due to the build up that had accumulated and the lack of protective equipment. 

Although the COVID caseload in the community is currently low, Young also points to another phenomenon affecting the Sault Area Hospital and others in the province.

“Pandemic stress has increased compassion fatigue among nursing staff, and experienced nurses are leaving the profession at a higher rate. 

“In addition, patients coming to the hospital are more acutely ill as they have opted to delay their care during the pandemic, adding to workload demands in health care.”

For similar reasons, Chief of Paramedic Services Robert Rushworth told SooToday that the 25 per cent surge in ambulance calls this year is “growth I've never seen in my career.”

In response, the District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board announced it will hire 10 new paramedics on 17 Sept.

Likewise, the hospital is working with nursing students and recent graduates.

“SAH is committed to continuing to work with our community partners, such as the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and Sault College of Applied Arts and Technology, to create learning opportunities and placements for students,” said Young.

“Along with retaining our current staff, new graduate nurses and physicians play an important role in maintaining our base staffing.”

What happens when you need emergency health care?

“The first step for all patients arriving at an Emergency Department/Fast Track is to be assessed by a Triage Nurse.”

This includes both patients who arrive by ambulance or on their own.

The Triage Nurse then determines the medical needs of patients using the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale. This system determines the priority of medical attention with a five-point scale: resuscitation, emergent, urgent, less urgent and no-nurgent. 

“This assessment allows the hospital to determine the seriousness of their injury or illness,” said Young.” Urgent and emergent patients (triage levels 1 and 2) are seen on a priority basis.”

The Fast Track Clinic functions similar to a walk-in clinic, “treating patients with less urgent conditions.”

Data on average wait times – in Sault Ste. Marie and the rest of the province – can be found on Health Quality Ontario’s website.


 

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Mike Hermida

About the Author: Mike Hermida

Mike Hermida is a Sault-based freelance writer at SooToday and a Law and Legal Studies student at Carleton University
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