Overcrowding at Saskatoon hospital leads to fire code issues

So many people and patients were recently set up in the hallways at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon that the fire department was called in over fire code issues.

According to a statement from Assistant Fire Chief Yvonne Raymer, the Saskatoon Fire Department went down to inspect the hospital this week after getting a complaint.

It identified issues in the hospital when it comes to the national fire code and the minimum width of a space for people to be able to leave in the event of an emergency.

“Hospital administration is working to remedy these issues, both in the short-term and with a long-term plan to address hallway crowding and bed management,” Raymer wrote in the statement.

She said no penalties or fines have been issued.

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On Thursday, Health Minister Everett Hindley said he didn’t know how often this might have happened before, but called the situation unacceptable.

“That indicates that we don’t have enough room for the patients that are coming in. So it is a concern to us. It’s something that needs to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed soon,” said Hindley.

He said the ministry has been monitoring the situation, along with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, to try to address some of the pressures causing the overcrowding problems and make changes.

The minister said issues like this are about patient flow and capacity.

Health Minister Everett Hindley says it’s not acceptable that St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon had to discuss issues with the fire code because there were so many patients in its hallways. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

“There have been a number of investments made recently to increase the number of complex and acute care beds in some of our hospitals, both in Saskatoon but also in Regina as well, providing some additional staff to help with this, and then working with all of our partners in health care,” said Hindley.

Hindley said there are seasonal pressures on health care right now, as well as situations where some patients are in acute care beds because they don’t have other beds to put them in yet – though he added that it doesn’t make the situation acceptable.

He said his teams are working on it, raising the situation with the health authority and trying to find solutions with the authority, hospitals and paramedics at the table.

Hindley said they’re “asking ‘What else can we do? What else can we provide to help ensure that we’re freeing up space for patients?’ ”

He said he’s hoping the situation can be dealt with as quickly as possible.

Vicki Mowat, the NDP’s health critic, said she agrees that piling patients into hospital hallways is unacceptable.

“We’ve been raising concerns about patients in hallway beds, without access to monitors, without access to treatment and care, for years now. And now we’re at a point where people who are working in the hospital, the health-care workers, are telling us it’s the worst it’s ever been,” said Mowat.

She said it’s discouraging that the government is watching the health system crumble and isn’t taking any action.

Mowat said the province badly needs primary care reform so people can actually find and see a family doctor or nurse practitioner.

“They need to have those reforms so they get access to health care before it becomes an acute situation that puts them in an emergency room,” said Mowat.