Staff redeployed to deal with surge of patients at Stollery
Posted December 20, 2022 3:15 pm.
Last Updated December 21, 2022 9:06 am.
Alberta Health Services says it’s redeploying staff as the volume of sick children at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton continues to rise.
Carina Majaesic, medical director at the Stollery, told a media conference today that the hospital has also expanded emergency room and hallway capacity to make room for more beds.
Majaesic did not say how many physicians have been redeployed to the areas of greatest need at the hospital, but numbers are fluctuating with the needs of other areas.
She says a tired and reduced workforce along with the high number of patients with respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, has created the perfect storm.
Stollery medical director Dr. Majaesic says they are "trying to brace" for what is coming in January at the Stollery, adding that pressures are continuing to mount. #yeg #yyc #ableg
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) December 20, 2022
Alberta Health Services says in a statement that the Stollery pediatric intensive care unit is at about 100 per cent capacity but that it has the ability to add additional beds if required.
It says other potential staffing measures could include mandatory overtime, short-notice schedule changes and cancelled vacations.
Majaesic advises parents with sick children to call 811 and either visit a walk-in clinic or their family doctor before coming to the hospital unless their child is struggling to breathe or keep down liquids.
