That's because they already explained the plan moving into an endemic. Hinshaw stated that case will jump until mid September & then start to burn out. I'm glad they are not listening to the screaming Karen's and self taught virologist. This 4th wave has to cycle and burn its self out. If it dosen't go as planned at least we are not repeating the same thing over and over again.
AB cases are about 10-15% higher than BC. The sky is not falling. Also AB has less pepole in ICU then BC. (Not that it matters).
Now a word from the "screaming Karen's and self taught virologist" at... stand by... checks notes,
Dr. Paul Parks president of Section of Emergency Medicine, Alberta Medical Association; this piece is co-signed by the entire Section of Emergency Medicine executive, representing all health regions in Alberta.
Parks: Hospital care at critical junction with staff shortages, bed closures
Aug 28, 2021
Every day, health-care teams across the province carefully manage hospital beds to ensure Albertans get the care they need and deserve. This resource management can be difficult at optimal times. As every Albertan is aware, the last year or more has been anything but optimal. Staffing shortages, increased patient volumes, and a long, drawn-out, highly infectious pandemic are making the challenge of acute care “bed” management more and more challenging by the day.
To properly address this challenge, Albertans must understand what goes into making a functional care space, or what is frequently referred to as a “bed.” Many provincial leaders continue to state that there are no bed shortages in Alberta. If they are merely referring to physical beds or patient care spaces, then technically they may be correct. However, much more goes into a hospital care space than merely the physical bed itself. Each “bed” is only useful because of the human resources available to staff that bed; this includes nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, porters, unit clerks, cleaning staff, and so on.
Unfortunately, Alberta is facing a dramatic shortage of frontline health-care workers, the most concerning of which is the number of nurses available to work in acute care settings. The ongoing staffing shortage is not isolated to emergency departments (EDs) but extends to intensive care units, medical and surgical wards, and all corners of the health-care system. Hospitals routinely function where even the reduction of one care space can impact safe and timely care delivery for many patients. Patient safety always comes first, so when unsafe staff-to-patient ratios are approached, the safest thing to do is to reduce bed capacity, even though the physical bed is still there.
Let us be clear — this degree of bed closures in our province is not typical. Prolonged closures of emergency department beds in the largest centres in the province is not optimal or routine. Cancellation of elective surgeries because of a closure of both operating rooms and post-operative beds is not standard operating procedure. The intermittent closure of multiple rural emergency departments and hospitals due to doctor and nursing shortages is not normal.
Frontline health-care staff have had the most challenging 18 months of their careers. They are facing increasing burnout and are plagued with the moral injury that comes with surviving this pandemic in the trenches. They are leaving. Whether they’re leaving the province, leaving acute care medicine, or leaving their careers altogether, the effect is the same. We have a staffing shortage that is having a real and concerning impact on bed closures. Those that are continuing to work are working exponentially harder to care for patients and keep their units afloat.
In emergency departments across Alberta, the data shows a rise in wait times, and unfortunately, many more patients leave without being seen by a doctor. Our patient volumes have increased to levels above what we were seeing before the pandemic. Demand for the health-care system is growing, which, in the face of worsening bed closures, is leading to increasing access block.
Unfortunately, many other factors will worsen access block in the months to come. Access to primary care and changes in virtual care continue to put increasing strains on emergency departments. Most virtual care options, such as Telus Health MyCare, almost always use the “safe answer” of sending patients to emergency, which has implications not only on overloading the ED but also on inefficient use of taxpayer dollars.
Furthermore, we are well into the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. As Alberta insists on winding down its public health measures, including testing centres, we will not only see a wave of hospitalizations but also patients coming in for COVID-19 testing. The ED is the last place an otherwise well person, who simply and reasonably needs a COVID-19 test, should be sent.
Access block has widespread implications across the entire health system. Emergency departments are the entry point into the acute care system for every single Albertan. When the ED is blocked and overwhelmed, every patient who needs care waits longer. From surgery for appendicitis to treating your broken ankle to getting rapid access to care if you’re having a stroke or heart attack, receiving timely care for every patient is affected when EDs are under-resourced. This is the definition of access block, and it’s a big problem that will only continue to worsen.
The system is strained, plain and simple. The bed closures our system is currently facing are having a palpable impact on access to timely care in Alberta. ED wait times are longer, surgeries are being cancelled, diagnoses are delayed. This is a problem now. The first step to fixing the problem is acknowledging that it exists, and then collectively working towards a solution.
Despite these significant challenges, health-care workers across the system continue to show up and are ready to care for you in your time of need. But we cannot do it alone. We need the government and health-care leaders to stop downplaying the challenges and instead work with the profession on solutions. We need Albertans to continue to advocate for a robust health-care system and to do what they can to mitigate the ongoing pandemic — vaccinations, physical distancing, masks, and hand washing all help immensely. The time to work collectively is now.
https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/c...al-junction-with-staff-shortages-bed-closures
www.timesofisrael.com
www.ama-assn.org
news.usc.edu
