Edmonton Zone health staff sound alarm over capacity for babies in intensive care
Staff caring for frail babies at hospitals in the Edmonton area are asking for help from the province.
In a letter dated Tuesday to Health Minister Adrianna LaGrange and Alberta Health Services president and chief executive officer Athana Mentzelopoulos, members of the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association say neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) "are in crisis" across the province, with Edmonton NICUs are running between 95-to-102-per-cent capacity.
They say a "safe" capacity for NICUs is 80-to-85 per cent.
"Practically, this puts babies at risk," writes Dr. Mona Gill, EZMSA president, and Dr. Amber Reichert, a neonatologist and zone member, in the letter.
"The nurses are caring for too many babies at one time and this results in frail, underweight infants not being able to even eat on time."
They say capacity issues stretch back years, writing that studies suggested in 2016 that 20-30 more beds were needed in the neonatal section but that there have been no bed increases since then.
Gill and Reichert also write that briefing notes Alberta Health was given briefing notes in 2022 and again last year "sounding the alarm" for beds and staffing support but were "largely ignored," among other concerns.
"These babies have nowhere else to be cared for and we believe the situation has become so critical that deaths of infants may soon follow," they say in the letter, adding that closing beds "if enough supports are not made available" would result in babies being transferred to another hospital or out of province.
"Without sufficient healthcare teams, NICU beds cannot be utilized and service disruption is highly likely."
LaGrange told media at the legislature on Tuesday she found the letter "very upsetting" and that she's "willing to to do whatever it takes to make sure that our babies are well looked after," including transporting them to other provinces if needed.
"I've got my department, and Alberta Health Services, providing me a full briefing and looking to see what our options are and how we can rectify it as quickly as possible," LaGrange said, not acknowledging that the issue of NICU capacity had been raised before, only that she had received the letter two hours before.
LaGrange said she knows "capacity is needed right across the whole province," adding the government is looking at expanding NICU space at Calgary's Foothills Medical Centre.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
Three dead after vehicle plunged down a 100-foot embankment in Shediac, N.B.
Three people have died after a vehicle veered off the road in Shediac N.B., Friday morning.
Appeal denied for Edmonton soldier accused of trying to kill her 3 children
An Edmonton woman found guilty of trying to kill her three children has been denied an appeal.