Achi news desk-
Alberta’s health minister said the province has “a little strain” in neonatal intensive care unit capacity but that beds are available across the province.
Health Minister Adriana LaGrange made the comments Wednesday after Edmonton doctors released an open letter to her and the province’s health care delivery agency raising concerns that vulnerable babies are at risk in overcrowded units and stretched staff too thin. .
“What I’ve heard from Alberta Health Services is actually that we have capacity. There’s a little strain on capacity right now,” LaGrange said at an unrelated news conference.
LaGrange said no babies have been taken out of Edmonton or the province for care in seven years.
“My biggest concern is for babies to make sure they are safe. And so, if we need to do that at some point, we will do it,” LaGrange said.
The Edmonton Area Medical Staff Association wrote in the letter that safe capacity in a neonatal ward is 80 to 85 per cent to allow for emergencies, but those units were at 95 to 102 per cent capacity about a third of the time between January and January. March.
“The nurses are looking after too many babies at one time and this means that frail, underweight babies are not even able to eat promptly,” the letter said.
LaGrange has said she only learned about the issues outlined in Tuesday’s letter, but the association said briefing notes sent to Alberta Health in 2022 and 2023 sounded the alarm for urgently needed beds. “largely ignored.”
Alberta’s population continues to increase and Edmonton doctors’ letter fears there will be serious consequences for not keeping up with the demand for places.
“These babies have nowhere else to receive care and we believe that the situation has become so critical that infant deaths may soon follow,” said Dr. Mona Gill, president of the medical group, and Dr. Amber Reichert, neonatologist and society member. , written in the letter.
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The opposition New Democrats grilled LaGrange and Premier Danielle Smith during question period on Wednesday, with leader Rachel Notley accusing the premier of lampooning frontline health care workers by refusing to acknowledge the problem.
LaGrange said as of Wednesday morning, 48 neonatal intensive care beds were available across the province, including 12 in Edmonton and 17 in Calgary.
“I want to reassure parents across Alberta that in fact when a child is sick, we will in fact take care of that child,” said LaGrange, who also pointed to the province’s plans to build the Stolery Children’s Hospital on its itself in the state capital.
He said Alberta Health Services is reviewing workforce capacity and addressing the concerns raised in the letter.
Speaking at a government news conference Wednesday, Alberta Medical Association president Dr. Paul Parks said the letter is concerning, but capacity has been a long-standing issue that predates LaGrange’s tenure as health minister.
“There are times where our capacity is stretched to 100 percent, 105 percent, throughout the acute care system,” he said.
“This has been brewing for a couple of years in terms of workforce.”
In its letter, the staff association also claimed that the pay and working conditions offered for clinical assistants are not competitive compared to other states, work restrictions have been placed on these providers without consultation, and there has been a failure the mechanisms to attract and recruit.
He said the lack of funding for nurse practitioners was also a cause for concern.
There are currently 133 NICU beds in the Edmonton Zone and 126 NICU beds in the Calgary Zone. In addition, there are 17 NICU beds in Red Deer, 10 NICU beds in Grande Prairie, 16 in Lethbridge, and seven in Medicine Hat, Alberta Health Services said Tuesday.
— With files from Karen Bartko, Global News
& copy 2024 The Canadian Press
