Emergencies in the Quebec City and Chaudière-Appalaches region are overcrowded at the start of 2020, where the occupancy rate has largely exceeded 100% for several days.
Nine of the thirteen emergency units in the Capitale-Nationale region had an occupancy rate of more than 100% at the end of the day. At a certain point, the emergency at the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec even reached a rate of 171%.
In Chaudière-Appalaches, four of the six emergencies overflowed. In Thetford Mines and Saint-Georges, hospitals had 150% and 143% traffic, respectively.
“Each emergency has a permit for a number of stretchers. When these stretchers are occupied, we get above 100%, ”explains the communications consultant from CHU de Québec, Bryan Gélinas.
“At almost 200%, it is starting to be more difficult”, judges the communications advisor of the CISSS of Chaudière-Appalaches, Nathalie Paré.
“Good clue”
If the occupancy rate is an emergency at full capacity, however, these staggering percentages must be qualified, insists Mr. Gélinas.
“This is a good indication that we are busy, but there are other factors too,” nuances CHU Quebec communications advisor Bryan Gélinas.
The fact remains that emergency units are busier at the start of the year, compared to other periods, when such an increase in hospital attendance is familiar at the start of January.
The holiday fault
“The current rate is not abnormal, especially for early January. Normally, from Christmas, it’s a little quieter, then it increases after New Years, “observes Nathalie Paré.
“We are at the top of the flu and gastrointestinal, points Bryan Gélinas. With the holidays, it’s not scientific, but as a family, people meet more people. It’s good for them to get gastros, flu and all that. ”
Current occupancy rates, however, have no designated culprits. “It really is everything. Gastrointestinal, cases of orthopedics due to falls, “recalls Mr. Gélinas.
Think about it-well
Hospitals in the region are asking network users to think twice before going to the emergency room for non-urgent cases.
“We still remind people with non-emergency health conditions to avoid going to the emergency room. Several solutions are available to them, “said director of communications at the CIUSSS of the Capitale-Nationale, Vincent Lamontagne, pointing to the winter clinics and those without an appointment.
“You never want to tell people not to go, not to come. If it’s urgent, you have to come. They shouldn’t feel guilty about coming to the emergency room, “put Bryan Gélinas into perspective.
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