Montreal Children’s, Sainte-Justine hospitals say their ERs are under pressure

Two Montreal children’s hospitals say their emergency rooms are under serious pressure due to respiratory viruses, and they’re asking parents to refrain from bringing their kids to the ER if it’s not an emergency.

While both the Montreal Children’s and Sainte-Justine say no child would ever be turned away, they warn less urgent cases could mean long waits for parents and children.

“Any patient who presents with a cold, flu or gastroenteritis and whose symptoms are mild should plan to wait several hours before seeing a doctor in the ER,” said Dr. Laurie Plotnick, the medical director of the MCH’s ER. “We’re seeing children with pneumonia, we’re are seeing children who are dehydrated from gastroenteritis, we’re seeing the usual picture at this time of year, we know with the flu season starting, the volume that we’re seeing is going to be increased.”

“We’re trying to send a message to families who don’t necessarily have to come to the emergency department to be evaluated, to think twice,” said Dr. Plotnick.

Patients with minor health problems accounted for nearly 58 per cent of visits to the Montreal Children’s ER between Nov. 17 and Dec. 1, contributing to a ballooning emergency department occupancy rate of 157 per cent over that period.

Minor health issues accounted for 37 per cent of visits to the Sainte-Justine ER between Nov. 5-28.

“Emergency services should be reserved for people whose condition requires immediate care,” added Dr. Antonio D’Angelo, the medical chief of the CHU Sainte-Justine ER.

Mark Cuizon was waiting at the Children’s on Wednesday afternoon for six hours already. “I just have to be patient because it’s for my child’s benefit,” he said.

Adam Davis had just arrived at that time. “I expect it could be a long wait,” he said.

“In the short-term we just have to deal with it the way it is, hopefully long-term the changes get made, it’ll improve it.”

“We feel terribly if families have to wait, but we ask for their support to understand that, even if it seems like from the waiting room it doesn’t seem like things are happening, there is a lot happening inside the department emergency department,” said Dr. Plotnick.

“We’ve gone through difficult years of high volumes, we try to find alternatives and workarounds,” said Dr. D’Angelo. “Our mission always remains to treat the most sick patients and that’s what keeps us going through these difficult periods.”

Both Plotnick and D’Angelo say mild flu symptoms, gastroenteritis and fever should be treated at home.

They also say calling Info-Santé at 8-1-1, visiting a neighbourhood pharmacist or consulting with a family doctor should be a first step when a child has those symptoms — rather than going straight to the ER.

They also encourage preventative measures such as good hygiene and vaccination.

Injuries or symptoms that would warrant an immediate visit to the ER, for instance, include fever in a baby under three months; difficulty breathing; head trauma with loss of consciousness; eye injury; possible broken bone; or ingestion of unknown substance.

“If it was something we could avoid, we would, it’s never a fun place to be,” said Davis.

On Tuesday, a LaPresse investigation uncovered two people died last week while waiting for emergency care at the overcrowded ER of Anna-Laberge hospital in Châteauguay on Montreal’s South Shore. The local health authority and the Coroner’s office have launched investigations.

Montreal hospitals are dealing with overcrowded emergency rooms — with an average capacity at 142 per cent on the island by Wednesday morning.

“Part of the reason why we’re having a higher occupancy is because we do have a lot of sick children and there’s not enough access to the inpatient units because they are also short-staffed and we don’t have the beds that we need,” said Dr. Plotnick.

Hospitals like Verdun were seeing 215 per cent occupancy rates; the Royal Victoria hospital is at 197 per cent; and others are hovering over 100 per cent capacity.