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Long ER waits and high nurse vacancies are plaguing several Toronto hospitals

Ontario's healthcare system is under pressure, resulting in long wait times at some major hospitals inTorontoand long wait times at some hospitals. tends to become

Emergency rooms were closed statewide in July due to a staffing shortage, particularly among nurses.

The Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) recently said it was "outraged by the acute shortage of nursing and medical staff plaguing hospitals."

"Shortages have been reported in emergency departments, ICUs, medical departments, surgery, etc."

Read more: Physicians say the surge in patients has accelerated ER closures and the healthcare system has "collapsed"

Some have gotten significantly worse in the last three months.

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Data provided to Global News by Unity Health shows a strained system.

Wait times from emergency room to hospital admission at St. Joshef Health Center and St. Michael's Hospital operated by Unity Health were 25 hours in May and 23.3 hours in June.

In May, she had an average waiting time of 32.9 hours before being admitted to St. Joseph's Church.

Canadian hospitals struggle to cope with staffing shortages and increased wait times

The target time to admit patients is eight hours, according to Health Quality Ontario, part of Public Health Ontario.

READ MORE: Ontario health minister does not rule out privatization as an option to help ER crisis

Waiting times were also shared by Scarborough Health Network (SHN), which operates SHN General, SHN Centenary and SHN Birchmount. In both May and June, patients waited 18 hours from triage to receive an inpatient bed. That number increased another 17% to 21 hours in July.

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North York General Hospital provided Global News with three-month figures: May through July In between, patients waited an average of 20 hours to be admitted from the ER.

In May, the average waiting time in the emergency room at Michael Garron Hospital, part of the Toronto East Health Network, was 9 hours and 37 minutes. It dropped to 8 hours 33 minutes in June and jumped to 10 hours 25 minutes in July.

"We are grateful to our multidisciplinary team for their tireless efforts to provide care to our patients and community during this unprecedented time," said a hospital spokesperson. rice field.

No first aid for his ER room in Ontario closed due to lack of staff – 30 July 2022

Citywide Impact on healthcare delivery.

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When paramedics transport a patient to a hospital, they place the patient in the hands of caregivers until they can be admitted. must wait as Go to the hospital and be assigned a bed.

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This waiting time is known as unloading delays, and is often used by ambulances and crews to respond to new emergencies. prevent you from returning to the road.

The Ontario Paramedic Chief and the Ontario Paramedic Association recently warned of increasing delays in loading and unloading times.

Darryl, Ontario Paramedic Association Wilton said in an interview that unloading delays have increased 12-fold in the last year alone. 88}

Read more: Ontario ambulance workers say increased off-road delays slow ambulance response times.

At Michael Gallon, ambulance off-road time peaked at over 31 minutes for a three-month period in June. In May, the ambulance unloading time averaged 18 minutes and 56 seconds, and in July he increased slightly to 19 minutes and 5 seconds.

Unloading times are longer at his three hospitals in SHN.

Paramedics waited an average of 31 minutes to be cleared after arriving at the hospital with a patient in May and her June, but in July he spent 38 minutes unloading. delay was observed.

At North York General Hospital, he had an average off-road time of 24 minutes over a three-month period.

Unity Health's hospital offload time averaged 55 minutes in May and 51 minutes in June.

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However, figures provided by paramedics indicate that the average delay at Toronto's health centers is longer. It has been.

Paramedics averaged 1 hour 59 minutes to discharge in May, 1 hour 53 minutes for him in June, and 2 hours 11 minutes for him in July.

"Paramedics spend about 800 hours in hospitals each day," said a spokeswoman for the Toronto paramedics. “In-hospital waiting time for paramedics is the most important issue, negatively impacting ambulance availability in the community.”

Toronto Paramedics Data, Global News and Data. Applies to all ambulance calls in the city, not individual drop off times at the various hospitals we have shared.

READ MORE: 'Disappointing': Ontario hospital closes ER again due to lack of staff

A common problem among struggling hospitals in Toronto in general is the high nurse vacancy rate, which reflects a growing shortage of nurses across Ontario. advocacy groups say.

In July, University Health Network recruited her 371 full-time and part-time nurses. This represents about 9% of her 4,000 nursing positions at the hospital.

North York General Hospital has a nurse vacancy rate of 8.6%. “This includes vacancies related to internal mobility, turnover, and 'over-hiring' strategies to proactively address staffing pressures associated with sick leave and other vacations. absent," the spokesperson said.

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Unity Health reported that nurse vacancies in June were 13% higher than hers, and June and he were 7. In March he reported a rise to 15%.

SHN's nurse vacancy rate declined slightly over the past three months to 9.0%. The nurse vacancy rate at Michael Garron Hospital was just 2.7%.

"Like all hospitals, North York General Hospital (NYGH) faces a significant burden from the widely reported shortage of medical staff and related problems," said a spokesperson. said.

— Using files from The Canadian Press

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