Nanaimo General Hospital emergency room 'chaotic' and unsafe, says veteran doctor.
Island Health admits patients are left without a hospitalist assigned to them at Nanaimo General Hospital. VP of Island Health says, “it’s not ideal”. Doctors say this is a “deterioration in the provision of patient care.” We say, this will result in deaths or less than ideal outcomes, and requires immediate attention.
“The medical staff at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital has a professional obligation to draw your attention to the deterioration in the provision of patient care at NRGH due to the existential crisis threatening the collapse of our hospitalist service,” the letter read.
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“A lack of hospitalists is putting pressure on Vancouver Island's busiest ER ward, where some patients are waiting up to 24 hours without attention”
“When a sick person arrives in Nanaimo’s emergency room, they are triaged and treated immediately if their condition is life threatening. However, if their condition isn’t critical but they still need to be kept in hospital, they must wait up to 24 hours to be seen by a hospitalist due to the staff shortage, Rumball said.”
“According to Rumball, the number of hospitalists working at Nanaimo General Hospital has fallen by a third over the past year.”
“Marko Peljhan, Island Health’s vice-president of clinical service responsible for Nanaimo General Hospital, confirmed that the number of hospitalists at the hospital was down by eight from the optimum number of 24.”
“It’s definitely not an ideal situation.” Peljhan said… However, Peljhan said that anyone requiring emergency care should still go to the hospital for treatment.