From the way that information is presented it sounds that if the flu season had held off till the “normal” time that we would have had enough beds. Is that the message?

Or is the message that we have downsized the capacity too far?

And is the message that we have had more flu cases this year than normal?

Are fewer people getting flu shots?

If not, perhaps the flu shots are not as effective as we thought?

Dumbed down media releases really are useless to some of us. They cause more questions to be posed. At least that is waht I find.

There is more than the flu going around. There is some kind of virus that is making people sick, and it has nothing to do with the flu.

We need to have an indepth analysis into how our Regional Hospital is run, with a view to improve the emergency service, and utilize all the empty space available while keeping costs down.

This would be a huge task, however at the end of the day we should be getting the maximum bang for our buck when it comes to health services.

Palupo is a Doctor now too? Please provide some facts for your claim.

How about eating properly, getting enough rest and exercise and then, if and when you get sick, you can suffer through it without visiting the hospital. Leave the hospital for those who are very young, very old and have compromised immune systems.

I think a lot of people don’t understand that it can take a cold weeks and weeks to go away.

“This would be a huge task”

A task presumably undertaken at the time they decided to add a major wing and the Cancer Centre, and move other functions into bed capacity that the hospital used to have 40 years ago when we had a smaller population.

And, of course, much of the psych floor has moved into the streets of the City. ;-)

Since our hospitals are public in this country, it seems we have another public service which we really know very little about, not unlike the City, Regional District, Highways, social housing, etc.

True definition of the Flu is respiratory.
Often misinterpreted for stomach virus.

Through out the 60’s and 70’s there was a lot more education done in the schools in regards to health and dental health. The student nurses and dental hygienists would hold classes in the elementary schools and high schools teaching and discussing proper personal health care. This has long since go the way of the Doe Doe bird.

Just shear stupidity seems to reign supreme in the schools now, no soap in the wash rooms, no paper towels. Even the crown jewel on the districts line up of schools Duchess Park is never properly stocked with cleaning supplies in the student washrooms. Who are the idiots running this system? Let’s look at the Board of Trustees.

Health education needs to start if not at home then in the schools at a very early age, preschool, kindergarten, grades 1 ~ 6. Why with all the social outreach services this city is flooded with, do we see our hospital flooded by those who can’t look after themselves.

No I think Northern Health needs to become more active in the community than it is currently. A serious review of how they conduct themselves needs to be done. There is no valid reason for the community to be in the state it is in due to a typical flu season. The only thing I can think of is again the lack of education given to the folks that are at risk and then also the potential people at risk (school age children who don’t know sneeze protocol or hand washing technique).

You are likely right BCRacer. “Available beds” as the article states rather than beds.

Hey, I’ll take that bet! What makes you think there’s empty beds? What evidence do you have? Is hospital administration too tight-fisted to operate at appropriate staffing levels? You bet, but that’s a far cry from having bed surplusses.

On Surgery South, they used to have a spacious waiting lounge for visitors as well as a bathing area where patients who needed lift aperatus could be bathed. These areas have both been converted into patient care rooms with multiple beds.

The real problem? When they built the new facility, instead of keeping some of the old one for use as patient care, they used most of it for administration space. They also have several floors of one of the major downtown office buildings for the same purpose. Want to improve efficiency in the medical system: get rid of the top-heavy administration.

“Hey, I’ll take that bet! What makes you think there’s empty beds?”

Well, here is why I think there are empty beds that are not staffed:
1. past news reports.
2. people working at the hospital saying they do not have staff to “open up beds”
3. being a patient and knowing patients who did get into spaces when push came to shove.

It supposedly has 219 beds …… can anyone confirm or correct that figure?

Definitions first, btw.

“empty bed” – defined as exists but not used and not able to be used at the current staffing level including doctor care, nursing care, cafeteria capacity, laundry capacity.

“available bed” has all the carrying capacity required to be occupiable at short notice, but no one is assigned to it at the moment.

interceptor: “Palupo is a Doctor now too? Please provide some facts for your claim.”

He’s an expert on all things. If you don’t believe it, just ask him!

Palopu has cranky old man virus.

Both Norovirus and the H3N2 sub-strain of influenza are circulaiting.

Professional makes some good points. Northern Health should be doing their job in the schools. It’s gross going into a school and seeing a water fountain that’s barely working and those little kids with their mouths right onto the hardware. Kids are a major source for spreading germs. Northern Health should be going into each school and educating the teachers and custodians. That’s a huge impact when each teacher passes that info onto 25 kids.