“Usual” emergency occupancy rates of 120% to 160% on the North Shore

In the middle of the holiday season, the emergency rooms of the two largest hospitals in the region showed occupancy rates for stretchers in the emergency rooms of at least 120%, Friday. In Sept-Îles, the occupancy rate rose to 160%. For its part, the CISSS de la Côte-Nord indicates that the situation is “under control” in all emergencies in the region.

Baie-Comeau and Sept-Îles hospitals have an occupancy rate higher than the provincial average, which stands at 106%, according to data from the Index Santé directory.

In the last 24 hours, in Sept-Îles, emergencies have been particularly busy by the arrival of 25 patients by ambulance, indicates the CISSS. However, the cause of this sudden traffic is unknown.

The average length of stay for people waiting on a stretcher in Baie-Comeau is 12 hours 49 minutes, slightly less than the provincial average of 13 hours 25 minutes. In Sept-Îles, it is more like 16 hours 40 minutes.

The CISSS de la Côte-Nord did not want to grant an interview on this subject, but the director of communications, legal and corporate affairs of the CISSS from the North Shore, Marlène Joseph-Blais, explains that these occupancy rates exceeding 100% are commonplace in the region.

It should be understood that due to the small number of stretchers permitted for each facility, it is common for more than 10 patients to be kept for observation, which temporarily causes an occupancy rate that exceeds 100%.she adds.

In fact, the emergency rooms of Baie-Comeau and Sept-Îles hospitals only have 10 stretchers each. The Fermont multi-service health and social services center, which had an occupancy rate of 150% on Friday, only has 2 stretchers.

Work to modernize the Sept-Îles emergency room will allow the hospital to add a capacity of 4 stretchers.

Respiratory viruses are back

For his part, the president of the Association of General Practitioners of the North Shore, Guillaume Lord, believes that the situation is stable in health establishments on the North Shore.

However, he expects an increase in traffic at the beginning of January, particularly due to respiratory viruses, and he recalls the precariousness of services at the Forestville health establishment during the holidays.

Still struggling with a serious labor shortage, the CISSS of the North Shore had been forced to temporarily reduce emergency services in Forestville due to lack of doctorslast week. Service returned to normal on Friday.

The holidays and summer are two times when employees take more vacation time. Significant planning is required so that minimum attendance is respected in all workplaces and services to the population are maintained.

Also, the CISSS de la Côte-Nord announced Friday that the Forestville sampling center will be closed on December 27. This situation is due to an unforeseen shortage of personnelindicates the organization in a publication on social networks. A return to normal is expected by December 30. In the meantime, urgent blood tests can be done in Escoumins and Baie-Comeau.

According to Guillaume Lord, healthcare workers in the region have also observed an increase in cases of respiratory viruses, particularly pneumonia. We seem to see a little more towards the end of fall compared to other years. Also, what we see is people who stay sick for a long timehe adds.

At the beginning of January, there were a lot of exchanges, families came together, we saw more infections. It’s always striking every year.

Vaccines against pneumonia, COVID-19 and influenza remain excellent ways to prevent [les complications] in vulnerable people or loved ones likely to meet vulnerable people during the holidays, says the doctor.

Reflecting on the next year, Dr. Guillaume Lord says he hopes a more serene year 2025 in terms of the workforce and a summer of 2025 easier to cross. He estimates that the summer period was particularly trying on the North Shore.

From May onwards, service disruptions continued in health establishments on the North Shore. Dozens of patients had to be transferred out of the region to receive health care.