Sask. NDP blame government for temporary closure of North Battleford intensive care unit

The Opposition NDP says the closure of an intensive care unit in North Battleford is another example of the Saskatchewan government mismanaging health care and public communication.

According to a Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) memo sent on July 6, the ICU at the Battlefords Union Hospital would close from July 13 to Aug. 3.

"During the closure scheduled ICU staff will work out of the temporary emergency department. Inpatient telemetry [monitoring with specialized equipment] and code blue responses [to resuscitate patients] will remain operational," the memo said.

It said if staffing can be found, the ICU would reopen prior to Aug. 3. The memo noted the temporary closure could also be extended.

This is the second memo the NDP has obtained related to ICU closures this month in the province.

On July 12, the opposition held a news conference outside the Regina General Hospital to share an SHA memo that indicated the hospital would close one ICU bed from June 30 to Sept. 5 due to staffing issues.

On Thursday, Opposition Leader Carla Beck and rural and remote health critic Matt Love met media outside the Regina General.

"The Sask. Party has broken our health-care system and they're doing everything they can to hide their failures from the people of Saskatchewan," Beck said.

Beck called on the government to make information about emergency room closures and ICU changes easily accessible to the public.

She said people are resorting to creating Facebook pages posting local closures or service changes "that you can't find anywhere on the [SHA] websites."

"Health-care workers feel scared not only about their working conditions and working short, but they're terrified that someone's going to show up at their ER, show up at their facility needing care, expecting care to be there only to find a piece of paper on the front door saying, 'sorry, you have to go somewhere else,"' Beck said.

Love said those in the Battlefords region should know what services are available at their hospital especially during summer when people head to their cottages or camp in the area.

"That's a very important health centre in that region. I think it comes down to transparency," Love said.

"This goes beyond ICU. This is ER closures, this is lab and X-ray closures, all sorts of disruptions if we don't have accurate dependable information then it's the health-care workers who are left picking up those pieces."

Beck said the temporary closure of the ICU comes down to the policies of the provincial government.

"It's time to admit that their recruitment plan is failing. They aren't working with health-care workers, they aren't working with local leaders, and communities across the province are paying the price."   

Ministry says adult ICU occupancy 75%

The Ministry of Health said in a statement to CBC that ICU service in North Battleford is paused due to "staffing challenges."

"Whenever a staffing shortage is identified, the SHA acts to replace those staff appropriately and as quickly as possible before any pauses or reductions are considered. However, ICU nurses are specially trained and there can be challenges staffing these shifts in summer," the statement said.

The government did not indicate if the ICU would be back in operation on Aug. 4.

The ministry said adult intensive care is a provincial program, so when one area has a service disruption, patients are transferred elsewhere. It said adult ICU occupancy is currently 75 per cent provincewide.

The ministry said the government plans to add a total of 250 new permanent, full-time health-care positions in rural and remote locations across the province. And 160 of those positions have been filled.

The ministry said the most recent provincial budget provides $6 million in new annual funding to "support expansion and enhance ICU capacity across the province; including $630,000 to enhance staffing capacity at Yorkton Regional Hospital and Battlefords Union Hospital."

It said it is also spending to make improvements to the Battlefords Union Hospital operating room.