Chalmers Hospital overcrowding cancels more surgeries

The chief of surgery at theDr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton says he's fed up with surgeries being cancelled because hospital wards are overcrowded with patients waiting for admission to nursing homes.

Dr. Ben Hoyt, who originally spoke out about the issue in January,says another three surgeries were cancelled at the last minute on Thursday.

It's unfair to those patients, he said.

"Emotionally, surgery alone is very taxing," said Hoyt. "And you take that vulnerable patient and an hour before they'rescheduled to be put [under]you tell them, 'Sorry, it's not going to happen because we don't have room for you?'It's atrocious that we are doing this."

It's also unfair to the elderly patients, he said,notingthere are currently 71 alternate level of care patients in acute care beds.

Words can't describe the frustration level in the hospital.- Ben Hoyt, chief of surgery

"Words can't describe the frustration level in the hospital. And it's not just frustration amongst surgeons. We're certainly very frustrated, but it's throughout the hospital system.

"Virtually every morning, the emergency room has 10, 15, sometimes more,patients who are admitted to the hospital, but in the emergency room because there are no beds to send them to in the hospital.

"So, that creates backlogs in the emergency room and frustrations for the emergency room physicians and nurses and patients."

Hoytcontends the provincial government needs to admit there is a shortage of nursing home beds and commit to creating more.

In the meantime, hesuggestsnursing homes could each take on a few extra elderly patientseven if it means they end upstuck on a bed in a hallway.

"They would at least still be in an environment designed for long-term care for these patients. So there would still be access to the common rooms and access to the dining rooms and a community around them and people trained to care for them appropriately, rather than them being stuck in a place where they don't belong," in a bustling hospital hallway," he said.

"It's very unfortunate the way we're treating our elderly and ill these days and it's disappointing."

Hoytsays there have been some positive discussions with health officials, but no one is working on a short-term fix.

"It's been several months. I recognize that the long-term solutions are not going to happen over night, but I've seen no efforts made to come up with short-term solutions to fix the problem now. Because this problem is here now," he said.

"It's not coming. It's here. And it's here to stay."