Understaffed and underequipped: Report shines light on struggles at Montreal ER – CBC

Reliance on overtime, missing equipment among problems leading to ‘ticking time bomb’ at Lakeshore General

Nov 02, 2022

Dozens of unfilled positions, increasingly sick patients and a lack of space inside the emergency room have created an untenable situation at the hospital serving Montreal’s West Island, a new report warns.

The 317-page report, obtained by CBC News, was prepared by an independent mediator between the nurses’ union and the local health authority after workers made complaints about conditions at the Lakeshore General Hospital.

The Lakeshore, an aging hospital in Pointe-Claire, Que., serves a growing population in Montreal’s suburbs and has been the subject of negative headlines during the pandemic.

The report is based on interviews with staff, statistics and a tour of the ER by the report’s author, Marie Boucher.

It comes amid growing concern about overloaded emergency rooms in much of the province, but the report paints the situation at the Lakeshore as particularly dire.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-lakeshore-er-hospital-1.6636846