Hundreds of services resume as majority of Sask. healthcare workers return to home units
After redeploying hundreds of healthcare workers to deal with the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all eligible staff are back working in their home departments, according to the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA).
Staff deployed to contact tracing, testing and outbreak management were eligible for redeployment in phase one of the SHA’s service resumption plan. However, healthcare employees working in acute and intensive care as well as vaccination deliveries are not being sent back to their home departments yet.
“Those redeployments will remain in place where they are required to support surge capacity,” according to a press release from the SHA.
Derek Miller, emergency operations commander for the SHA, says officials are finalizing a phased plan to return the remaining staff.
“As we start to resume services we’re identifying that we don’t necessarily have the full staffing complement available and it’s impacting our service resumption,” Miller said, adding some healthcare workers are choosing to leave the field due to burnout.
Carolyn Brost Strom is a public health nurse in Prince Albert. She says she has contemplated quitting due to the stress of her job.
“Every time there is a new wave it pushes us down further and it’s harder to recover mentally and physically,” Strom said.
“I know we make a difference, so it is really tough to feel like you’re not valued and appreciated.”
Strom says the healthcare system is currently staffed to deal with the pandemic, adding staffing levels have improved in the last year. However, she says she is worried that will change once the pandemic is over and employees return to their regular jobs.
“I am quite worried what will happen when this is all over. Everyone is going to be so tired,” she said.
On Sept. 1, the SHA slowed 395 services to deal with the fourth wave.
As of Nov. 26, 257 of those services have fully resumed and 59 have partially resumed, including the organ donation program.
All organ donation staff have returned to their units, allowing those services to resume, according to the release. However, staffing vacancies in Saskatoon are preventing a full resumption of services in that area.
At the beginning of November, the provincial government announced its plan to return 90 per cent of eligible SHA staff to their home positions by the end of the month.
SURGERY BACKLOG STILL NEEDS TO BE TACKLED
Roughly 36,000 patients are waiting for surgeries, according to the SHA, and about half of those are for procedures like knee and hip replacements as well as cataracts.
Surgical services are increasing across the province. However, officials say regional centres are progressing faster than tertiary surgical sites.
All surgical procedures have been restored in several regions including Prince Albert, Lloydminster, Estevan, Weyburn and Kindersley. Seventy-five per cent of surgical services have been restored in Moose Jaw and Swift Current.
Saskatoon has reached 80 per cent and Regina is at 60 per cent.
According to the SHA, surgical reopening in Regina and Saskatoon are delayed due to the high number of COVID-19 admissions in those cities.
Officials say “longstanding” nursing vacancies in Regina’s operating department will impact how quickly surgeries can resume fully.
“There are approximately 20 vacant positions in the OR in Regina,” according a press release by the SHA.
“Even with redeployed staff back, resumption to 100 per cent will take time.”
Miller says the SHA is working with the Ministry of Health to find ways to boost staffing levels, which includes hiring out of province.
“The challenge right now is everyone in Canada and North America is similar. They are all looking for specialized nurses in the ICU,” said health minister Paul Merriman.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
NEW 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire': A crowd pleaser that turns it up to 11
Hot on the heels of last year's 'Godzilla Minus One' comes 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,' the first ever Academy Award winner in the giant reptile's decades-long film career.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.