An ambulance is shown in Edmonton on Feb. 28, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
EDMONTON – Alberta Health Services says it’s redeploying staff as the volume of sick children at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton continues to rise.
Carina Majaesic, medical director at the Stollery, told a media conference today that the hospital has also expanded emergency room and hallway capacity to make room for more beds.
Majaesic did not say how many physicians have been redeployed to the areas of greatest need at the hospital, but numbers are fluctuating with the needs of other areas.
She says a tired and reduced workforce along with the high number of patients with respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, has created the perfect storm.
Alberta Health Services says in a statement that the Stollery pediatric intensive care unit is at about 100 per cent capacity but that it has the ability to add additional beds if required.
It says other potential staffing measures could include mandatory overtime, short-notice schedule changes and cancelled vacations.
Majaesic advises parents with sick children to call 811 and either visit a walk-in clinic or their family doctor before coming to the hospital unless their child is struggling to breathe or keep down liquids.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2022.
