A New Brunswick hospital has temporarily closed multiple departments and will divert patients elsewhere due to staff shortages and extreme overcrowding.
Campbellton Regional Hospital, which has 145 beds, has been struggling to accommodate almost 200 patients, many of whom are waiting to be placed in nursing homes.
The scenario has put the hospital鈥檚 ability to function at risk, according to Vitalité Health Network president and CEO Gilles Lanteigne.
鈥淭here is no more room in the hospital and our ability to provide safe and high-quality care is being compromised,鈥� Lanteigne said in a statement.
About 70 of the hospital鈥檚 beds are occupied by what the hospital calls alternate level of care patients, who no longer require hospitalization and are oftentimes waiting to be placed in nursing homes.
鈥淭his is an extremely urgent situation and we need everyone鈥檚 collaboration and understanding during this difficult period,鈥� Lanteigne said.
Closed units include obstetrics and gynecology, surgery and outpatients.
The health network that oversees the hospital said in a statement that the situation will be 鈥渞e-evaluated鈥� on a daily basis.
New Brunswick Health Minister Ted Flemming said in a press conference that officials were aware of shortages before the closure, and linked the problem to the province鈥檚 aging population. According to the most recent census data from 2016, about one in five people in New Brunswick is 65 or older.
"We're saying we're running out of people, we've said this, that there is a storm gathering here, the grey tsunami they call it. People are aging,鈥� he said.
Hospital closures have been a problem across Atlantic Canada. due to the unavailability of doctors. One doctor said that she鈥檇 seen people who鈥檇 suffered cardiac arrests in the waiting room and triage area.鈥�
