The mayor of Sechelt says council is willing to back local doctors concerned about overcrowding at Sechelt Hospital, but cautioned it’s too early for the doctors to make a pitch for zoning and other approvals for a specific project.
Doctors Jim Petzold and Joerg Jaschinski spoke at the March 1 council meeting to outline the situation at the hospital and how it’s tied to a shortage of long-term care beds.
“At the moment our hospital is running at 130 per cent capacity, which means that many patients that are supposed to be admitted and get their care in a hospital bed are remaining in the ER. It’s not unusual for between five and sometimes 12 people to be admitted in the emerg[ency], and we only have 12 beds,” said Jaschinski. “Sometimes we have to work within spaces that aren’t there: family rooms or the areas where the ambulance personnel bring in the patients. This is obviously not a healthy situation and it also leads to dangerous conditions for the doctors. We also at the moment have many junior doctors that have joined our community and these conditions are, I think, leaving them feeling very frightened and unsafe.”
Jaschinski said at 130 per cent, Sechelt Hospital is “the highest over-capacity of all hospitals in Vancouver Coastal [Health],” adding that one whole floor has now become a de facto long-term care facility. “The third floor is actually at the moment a long-term care facility. Every single bed on that floor is taken by people waiting for a long-term care facility.”
Petzold called the situation at Sechelt Hospital desperate. “And it’s only going to become more and more desperate as time goes on,” he said. “At any given time we have 10 to 15 patients waiting for long-term care beds in the community … patients are being doubled up in single rooms, they’re having to share a toilet with another person in a very small room. Patients are being placed in cubbyholes because there’s no beds available. The majority of our beds in emergency at any given time are being occupied by patients who have been admitted to the hospital, but there’s no beds for them to go to. The whole problem rests upon the shortage of long-term care bed facilities.”
Vancouver Coastal Health’s (VCH) solution to that shortage continues to be a source of controversy. VCH has a contract with Trellis Seniors Services for 128 beds in the Silverstone Care Centre on Derby Road, which will need both zoning and Official Community Plan amendments before construction can start.
The Sunshine Coast’s Division of Family Practice recently came out in support of the deal because it offers 20 new beds. The Division of Family Practice also said it plans to lobby VCH to ensure those 20 beds are just a start.
Both doctors urged councillors to move the Trellis project forward quickly.
Jaschinski said despite reservations about the proposal, Sunshine Coast physicians feel it’s the best solution available right now to deal with the issues at Sechelt Hospital.
“Instead of fighting, we felt that by cooperating we are going to serve our community a lot better – because once we can clear the third floor and allow these patients to get the care they deserve, we’ll be able to use our hospital again as a proper hospital.”
Petzold was making a similar statement when Mayor Bruce Milne cautioned the doctors for straying into advocacy for a specific project.
“I know that both of you were informed by our staff that there will, in fact, be an appropriate place to talk about the Trellis application when it’s in front of us,” Milne said. “The fact that it isn’t in front of us now has nothing to do with council blocking [it], or anything of that nature. It’s their dealing with the process as any other developer. There will be a public hearing where you can speak specifically to the Trellis issue.”
Milne said he appreciated the doctors’ acknowledgement that evaluating the Trellis proposal was going to take time. “I’m glad that you and others recognize that it’s a three-year process,” he responded. “Apparently Trellis and VCH didn’t. They thought it was about 10 months.”
Milne also assured the doctors that council heard their underlying message. “We certainly take seriously the overcrowding and the lack of facilities, and if there’s anything the council can do, individually or as a council, to help advocate for even equal treatment from VCH – so we’re not the worst-off site in the VCH system – we’ll certainly try to help you with that,” said Milne.
VCH’s Anna Marie D’Angelo told Coast Reporter that while the health authority is glad to see doctors supporting the Trellis proposal, the picture they’re giving of conditions at Sechelt Hospital should be viewed with caution.
Although D’Angelo acknowledged that Sechelt Hospital has one of VCH’s highest occupancy rates, the numbers are constantly changing. As of March 8, she said, there were four patients waiting to transfer to long-term care. She also said there could be several reasons for occasional surges in the number of patients and the hospital’s medical advisory committee monitors the situation and works with VCH to ease the pressure when needed.
