Montreal's Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital closes stretchers amid staff shortage

The Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in eastern Montreal closed some of its emergency room stretchers over the weekend because of a staff shortage.

The hospital says seven of its 54 stretchers became unavailable. However, the union representing health-care staff says the number is closer to 30. In a statement, the hospital disputes the union's claims, saying that was never the case.

"The pressure on our teams is significant and constant ever since the end of December," said the local public health authority, the CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal. "There is currently a shortage of nursing staff on the floor."

The hospital says it moved some patients from the emergency room to other units to relieve pressure on ER staff. It says the situation should return back to normal throughout the day Monday. 

It adds that people who do not need urgent medical care should seek it elsewhere. On Friday, Santé Québec issued the same warning for all emergency rooms across the province, as stretcher occupancy rates for Montreal reached 144 per cent.

The CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, the health authority in charge of the hospital, says the number of patients coming through its doors has increased by 8 per cent since this time last year. It says the increase in patients is largely composed of people who need a bed and hospitalization.

The union representing hospital staff, the Syndicat des professionnelles en soins de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, told Radio-Canada more than half of the hospital's emergency room stretchers were closed between Saturday night and Sunday night.

Union president Denis Cloutier says the emergency room was short about 10 nurses, adding that illness related to the flu season often overwhelms the hospital.

The Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital is awaiting a major expansion and renovation project, which is set to begin later this year after many delays.

"The increase in the number of beds that will result from the construction of the new hospital will have a more than favourable impact on our capacity to meet the needs of the community," the health authority said in its statement.