sask. surgery restart weighed down by covid-19, short-staffing

saskatchewan’s plan to revive surgical services stalled by the pandemic has hit a snag in its largest service centres, where short-staffing and considerable numbers of patients with covid-19 have meant a slower return to normal.saskatchewan health authority emergency operations chief derek miller said high demand means specialized acute care and surgery provided in saskatoon and regina can’t yet resume at the same pace as in other regional hospitals.“we are seeing the drawdown in terms of icu demand in saskatoon and regina to be slower, and that really is tied to the types of beds that are provided there that aren’t provided in other hospitals outside those locations,” miller said.“we really need to see those come down with the rest of us to see us move towards normal.”saskatchewan’s government set an ambitious target of resuming more than 200 health-care services by the end of november, a task that involves returning hundreds of staff who were diverted from their usual jobs in the fall to manage the unprecedented number of patients with covid-19.the health system faces a backlog of more than 36,000 procedures and surgeries.so far, the sha is on pace to meet those targets. a document distributed by the province’s emergency operations centre said 78 per cent of staff had been repatriated to their old jobs as of nov. 19, above the goal of 75 per cent. a total of 193 services have been fully resumed and 68 have been partially resumed. most rural and regional hospitals are operating at 75 to 100 per cent of surgical capacity.saskatoon was expected to be at 80 per cent as of nov. 22; regina was expected to be at 60 per cent, which officials attributed to 20 vacant operating room nurse positions.saskatchewan union of nurses president tracey zambory said the staff shortage predates the pandemic but illustrates a gap in the resumption plan to date.“you cannot generate nurses out of a piece of clay,” zambory said. “we’re going to have some hard times regardless, because we have not addressed the health human resources issue with attention.”zambory said the challenge is compounded by the ongoing demand of covid-19 and the prospect another wave of infections could sweep progress away.“there’s this sentiment growing that we seem to have found our way through covid-19 when in fact, inside facilities, it’s really not like that,” she said.chief medical health officer dr. saqib shahab said the magnitude of the province’s fourth wave — and continued rates of transmission — mean it will take some time for hospitals to find their footing.“even though our case numbers are lower, every 100 cases generates five hospitalizations, one icu admission and unfortunately up to one death,” shahab said. “we already see … while our discharges are larger than our admissions, it will take a longer period of time for our health system to fully stabilize.”miller said the sha has a plan to shift resources in saskatoon and regina back to caring for other patients as soon as the covid-19 burden decreases, which he hopes will happen quickly.“we have a desire, and everyone wants to see the case numbers continue to go down and the associated hospitalizations to do the same, which would allow us to fully resume services and get back to a sense of normal,” he said.zvescera@postmedia.comtwitter.com/zakvescerathe news seems to be flying at us faster all the time. from covid-19 updates to politics and crime and everything in between, it can be hard to keep up. with that in mind, the saskatoon starphoenix has created an afternoon headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox to help make sure you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. click here to subscribe.