Hospital patients lying in hallways or lounges because there are not enough beds available is a sad reality.
Health Sciences North in Sudbury is launching a pilot project to try to ease the pain and pressure of over-capacity.
Officials admit the hospital is running at an occupancy rate of about 108% to 110% on a daily basis.
“The demands that are being placed on hospitals are because of an aging population,” said David McNeil, Health Sciences North vice president of patient care.
“We are at the beginning of that baby boomer trend, so that is driving the care needs. We are seeing many more people that are elderly, fraught with fragility and the need for community based services is growing. They have to grow they are not growing fast enough.”
On a recent stop in Sudbury, officials with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which represents thousands of health care workers, pointed out the dangers of ‘over-occupancy’ in hospitals.
“The World Health Organization says that 85% occupancy rate is the standard for hospitals to actually provide good quality services and be able to meet capacity needs and if there is any kind of crisis they need to have a buffer in the system, there is no buffer,” explained Sara Labelle, OPSEU vice-president.
To ease the pressure, Health Sciences North will use a floor the Daffodil Terrace Lodge as a transitional unit for patients who can be discharged.
Currently, the floor offers accommodation for out of town cancer patients.
“We couldn't get them home because of social issues, like they don't have a home to go to that is suitable for them right now, their home might have stairs, things like that, maybe they don't have supports in the home and they just need somebody there, but they are residing in the hospital and they don't have any medical complexities, so we are going to discharge them to that unit,” McNeil explained.
The transitional unit is a pilot project and it opens Monday.
If it works, hospital officials told CTV it will be expanded to other locations in the city.
