Steps Being Taken to Ease Pressure at UHNBC
Prince George, B.C. – Northern Health is taking a number of steps to ease the pressure on the University Hospital of Northern B.C.
The hospital is under pressure as there are more patients than normal says Michael McMillan, Northern Health Northern Interior Chief Operating Officer “We are seeing people (patients) in hallways probably for the first time ever. We have a number of areas that we have converted to patient care units. By and large, we are squeezing people into places that are designed for patient care, but there are some patients, occasionally, where we really hit the maximum, where we have some patients in hallways, in our medical units in particular.”
There is no single reason for the increased demand at UHNBC, there are a number of factors at play. One is the aging population which puts more demand on healthcare service, McMillan says there has been an increase in hospital admissions in the over 75 age group, “But we also have more (specialist) physicians, our success in recruiting means we are keeping more patients in the north.”
Unfortunately, there aren’t as many new family Physicians “That is one of the things we are working on in terms of building up community capacity” adds McMillan.
It is not unusual for UHNBC to see increases in activity, but this current situation is different says Dr. Charles Jago, Chair of the Northern Health Board “We have normal peaks and valleys. This is a persistent pattern, that’s why we’re putting together this plan of action, you would not expect that kind of over capacity issue in the summer months, but we have experienced it all the way through summer. But this (pressure) has been consistent since the summer. So we’re dealing with, essentially, a new situation and we have to have a solid plan of action both short term and long term and that’s what we’ve put together.”
The plan of action calls for a variety of initiatives including opening 11 new convalescent/respite beds and 15 new complex care beds on the third floor of Gateway Complex Care Centre, rapid access to home support services and contracting for additional surgical capacity to address long wait times for cataract surgery. Then there’s the long term initiative, which Dr. Jago says is the development of a Master Plan “We talk about a Master Planning exercise that will take place for the Hospital to determine the adequacy of the current space and to look forward to the next 30, 40 years to determine what kind of additional space requirements would be needed. So that’s the first step in approaching a major capital project such as expanding the hospital.”
Northern Health CEO Cathy Ulrich says the Master Planning process will examine the projected population growth, population needs in the future, how adequate the space is for the needs of the population, and the types of services that may be needed in the future.
In the meantime Northern Health is also calling on the public to help ease the pressure by using the emergency department appropriately. Northern Health has sent out a reminder that the emergency room “tends to patients who have experienced a sudden and/or unusual change in their health. This includes, but isn’t limited to, breathing difficulties, severe bleeding or pain, broken bones, chest pain and eye injuries.”
Patients unsure about whether or not they need to head to the emergency room can call Healthlink B.C. 8-1-1 or visit Healthlinkbc.ca for non-emergency information 24/7.
Comments
“We are seeing people (patients) in hallways probably for the first time ever”
Are you kidding me.. its common place now.. This guy is showing he has not stepped into the hospital. Time to shutdown Northern Health.. worst thing to happen to our medical system ever. Thousands of workers employed by northern health and for what ? top heavy with managers and the money paid to these people that should be paying for more operating rooms, equipement etc.
Northern Health CEO Cathy Ulrich says the Master Planning process will examine the projected population growth, population needs in the future, how adequate the space is for the needs of the population. Cathy.. the population hasnt changed in decades and still the medical services here are disgusting. Maybe convert all the office spaces in the new part of the hospital to beds.. get rid of more managers and do what you are supposed to… look after the people with medical needs.
Pretty bad when the COO doesn’t know the history of patient care at UHNBC. “first time ever”…..were your eyes closed? Did northern health just expect all the baby boomers to stay healthy and not access health services as they got older? Get rid of offices, hire nurses, fire all these “managers”, and serve the community whose tax dollars pay you. For every manager that Northern Health has, they could hire 2-3 full time nurses. The managers salaries are public record. Cathy Ulrich’s salary is public record. From 2012-2013, as per public record, her salary increased by almost $30,000. That’s CRAZY! Northern Health is the way too top heavy!
” Thousands of workers employed by northern health and for what ? top heavy with managers and the money paid to these people that should be paying for more operating rooms, equipement etc. ”
The issues with Northern Health go well beyond top heavy management.
Top heavy management appears to be a problem in all large organizations, not just Northern Health. If the fat was trimmed, and they had to run their companies like I have had to manage my budget, it would be a different picture. But why ask me for my opinion? I’m just another taxpayer who is getting more cynical as each year goes by.
A friend has been in a hallway bed since Thursday – she had a stroke and is miserable being out and exposed more than in a normal ward. Horrible situation! Sadly in 2009 when my hubby was in PGRH for a month, there were several hallway beds occupied every day I spent visiting him. So nothing new here and I call bullsh** on the statement that ‘first time ever’ frankly!
Jago: “This is a persistent pattern, that’s why we’re putting together this plan of action, you would not expect that kind of over capacity issue in the summer months, but we have experienced it all the way through summer. But this (pressure) has been consistent since the summer. So we’re dealing with, essentially, a new situation and we have to have a solid plan of action both short term and long term and that’s what we’ve put together.”
Is this the worst pant-load you’ve ever heard or what? They’ve had this problem since the summer and only now are they motivated to, what, act? No, just plan. I guess that’s why they’ve got management staff stashed away in building all over town, just so they’re available when it comes time to “plan”. Northern Health needs to be gutted and rebuilt with a fraction of the managers they now have. Use the savings to increase healthcare capacity.
And no, the size of the population hasn’t changed, but the median age in PG certainly has. There Ms. Ulrich, there’s your Master Plan.
Everytime I have been to the hospital, in pg, I have to walk through several smokers outside the doors. What a unhealthy place, and downtown,
behind the building that Northern health works out of, has a bunch of smokers standing in the ally behind, Its so ironic, that we spend so much money on medical and at the same time we have so many self destructing people out there. Oh what, now I will get sued for saying this.lol. just saying.
I call BAloney on this as well. TWO years ago I was there and there were people in the lounges and in the hallways.. and what do cataracts have to do with bed management? I agree, off with their heads!
Doesn’t help that only about 15% of the nurses have a clue what they are doing, and the family dr’s aren’t much better. Watch them run around as oxygen runs out on patients, people fall out of beds because rails aren’t put up, meds are missed… borderline criminal the way they handle things.
how about using the empty 5th floor…
if they are having troubles taking care of the city as it sits, god help us come Winter Games time, if, heaven forbid, something happens like a out break of flu or something worse…
Another aspect of the overload is keeping patients in the ER because there are no beds for them. A couple years ago I came into the ER about 10pm on a Sunday night. A few hours later once they got my test results, they decided to admit me, but I had to stay in an ER cubicle until 6pm Monday because they had no bed for me. That was very unpleasant since I had a bad headache and needed to sleep, which is difficult in the hustle and bustle of the ER.
It is interesting to see the CEO wanting to put priority on those with sudden and unusual change in their health condition – would this include or leave out the many who come in because of abusive drug and/or alcohol habits?
On another point: Northern Health is the largest employer in PG. What comes with this is that we need to have managers over managers over managers – as so on. Why not try something innovative such as making EACH hospital its own business centre that should enable each institution of hiring and placing people where and when needed. Sorry, union supporters, this might cause someone to perform work beyond their very specific responsibilities.
And yet another point: Master Plan!!! Haven’t Northern Health been master planning EVER SINCE the Northern Health monstrosity was established_
On a semi-related point, I took a family member in to the hospital for a blood test on Monday. Was there for over an hour and didn’t see a single mask. Zero. Not one. So I guess with the new rules we must assume we are at 100% participation in the flu shot hey?
They probably need a time, motion, and space study at UNHNBC.
Lets keep in mind that they moved the Chemotherapy Department from the hospital to the new cancer clinic. This must have freed up a lot of space.
The population of the Census Agglomeration area for Prince George for the 2011 Census was 84,235 people. PG population was 71000.
So here are some interesting numbers.
Number of people aged 25 to 34 years 10,830
Number of people aged 35 to 44 years 11,595
Number of people aged 45 to 54 years 13,765
Number of people aged 55 to 64 years 11,350
Number of people aged 65 to 79 years 7,735
Number of people aged 80 to 99 years 1,995.
So you can see that as the population ages in increments of 10 years we will actually start to get less people in the older generations. So any planning now should take into account that the extra space to-day, could become surplus space in 10/20 years.
The projected population growth for this area to the year 2030 is something like 2%. So not much growth predicted.
Northern Health should ask the people working in the system how to make it better for everyone , so we can get people out of the hall ways. I think Northern Health is more like a Dictatorship that is top heavy and not enough workers.
Less people in the older generations but they most likely spend more time in hospital.
Seamut. Yes they spend more time in the hospital, however if you look at the age range you can see that they will be gone to the big hospital in the sky within a certain time frame, and then the numbers will begin to go down.
interceptor: “On a semi-related point, I took a family member in to the hospital for a blood test on Monday. Was there for over an hour and didn’t see a single mask. Zero. Not one. So I guess with the new rules we must assume we are at 100% participation in the flu shot hey?”
Doubtful. The health care workers who didn’t get the flu shot don’t care enough about wearing a mask. If they were so against the flu shot for whatever reason, you would think they would wear that mask with pride.
Irregardless, just want to say thanks to the RN’s for their excellent work.
How sad from the original article these comments have strayed. Saying that only 15% of nurses have a clue what they are doing is so disrespectful. I take it you are not one. Do you know how many nurses come in and do overtime because we are so short staffed. How many nurses put in 16 hr days because we are so short staffed. How many miss breaks so they can take care of people. Do you know what its like to spend hours trying to save a life, to lose that patient and then just go back to work and finish our shift. often being yelled at by patients cause we were late with their meds- unable to tell them the reason we were late due to patient confidentiality. Grieving for that patient if and when we get a break- because after all we are human. I understand your frustrations at the system. Spending a night is ER sucks but you were lucky cause the average pt is there for 2-3 nights.
I have been on both sides but using this forum to publicly humiliate a group of hard working people or anyone for that matter is well-pathetic. If you have a problem with a nurse go to management, if you have a problem with the system- go to management or write your MLA’s.
Thank you Grizzly2 for your comment.
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