Viral video of overcrowded hospital hallways sparks NDP outrage

A video taken at Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital (RUH), showing the hospital hallways crowded with patient beds, has sparked outrage from the NDP, with Health Critic Keith Jorgenson calling it “totally unacceptable.”

The video, which surfaced on social media, was filmed on Sept. 25.

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So far, the video has received more than 100,000 views.

“This video shows a daily reality of what our (emergency rooms) are like most of the time,” Jorgenson told reporters on Thursday.

“It shows us clearly that our health care system is broken, that things are getting worse, (and) that this government has absolutely no plan to make things better,” he said.

Jorgenson said that patients are not being treated with “dignity” or “privacy” when being cared for in hospital hallways.

“I think in a moment of crisis, it’s the minister or the manager’s job to be there to provide a plan to calm the staff and right the ship, and we don’t see any evidence of that,” Jorgenson said.

The health critic said he wants to see a “big, bold change” to Saskatchewan’s health-care system.

He said while there isn’t a quick fix to overcrowding in hospitals, he wants to see provincial authorities work with health-care professionals to create a plan to alleviate the system’s pressures.

Vice-President of Integrated Saskatoon Health with the Saskatchewan Health Authority John Ash said he is aware of the recent capacity increases.

At a virtual media scrum on Thursday, he said most emergency departments will see surges of overall capacity and volume.

He said there were a number of contributing factors to last week in the RUH emergency department, which saw 42 people waiting for inpatient beds at its peak.

“A compounding factor was certainly the early presence of some of our seasonal flu, but that was one of many reasons going forward,” Ash said.

He said while hallway care is not an “ideal” environment, hospital staff want to provide care and treatment to patients, which includes timely access to emergency departments.

“They’re not waiting for an extended period of time in the waiting room, our EMS partners are able to easily offload patients and return to the community to be able to provide service,” he said, noting patients are ensured to still have access to emergency care.

“Sometimes admitted patients who have been seen by the doctor have had a whole care plan in place and are just waiting for an inpatient bed,” Ash said. “Some of those patients are moved outside of the core emergency department.”

He pointed to the Government of Saskatchewan’s announcement made in March to give Saskatoon City Hospital $15 million to purchase 109 acute care beds, upgrade equipment and expand acute care services.

Ash said 20 of those beds are operational, with more to open in the coming months.

“We know our systems experience capacity, but we’ve taken action through the investment of those 109 beds to be able to mitigate the times where patients do have to wait in hallways,” Ash said.