‘Titanic’ staffing crisis leaving at least 14 Ontario hospital units shut down ahead of long weekend – CTV
July 29, 2022
The intensive care unit at a hospital in Bowmanville will be temporarily closed amid a “significant staff shortage,” alongside more than a dozen other Ontario hospitals that are expecting to reduce beds and relocate care ahead of the long weekend.
An Ontario nursing union told CTV News Toronto at least 14 hospitals will be impacted.
“Long weekends always have an increased visit to emergency rooms, so there’ll be further staffing issues, further burnout issues,” Ontario Nurses’ Association President Cathryn Hoy said on Thursday afternoon.
At the centre of the closures is a staffing crisis that Hoy said she can only compare to the “Titanic.”
“That’s how serious it is,” she said. “I don’t even know if there’s words anymore for it.”
Hoy says that Bowmanville is a community that can’t afford to lose 12 intensive care unit (ICU) beds.
