A group representing emergency room doctors across the country has a message for Canada’s premiers: come up with a co-ordinated plan to prevent their workplaces from being closed due to staffing shortages that are creating an unprecedented crisis in health care.
Dr. Atul Kapur, a spokesman for the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, said premiers gathering at a meeting in Victoria on Monday and Tuesday need to prioritize the recruitment and retention of health-care professionals, and not just in the short-term.
“We’ve been sounding the alarm about shortages of physicians and nurses for quite some time,” Kapur said, adding the temporary closure of emergency rooms is particularly troubling in rural areas because the next closest ER is often far away.
One of the biggest gaps in the health-care system is the lack of nurses, said Kapur, an ER doctor in Ottawa.
“We recognize that our nursing colleagues are vital, that in (emergency) especially, the stresses on them are even more than they are on us because they bear more of the brunt of patient and family anger than we do.”
A lack of nurses on wards means patients who have been admitted to hospital languish in emergency departments, leaving fewer beds available for those stuck in waiting rooms, including people who don’t have a family doctor, Kapur said.
Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows admitted patients across Canada waited 38.3 hours in emergency rooms in 2019-2020, up from 29.3 hours five years earlier. The total number of visits spiked to nearly 1.6 million during that time, up from just over 1.1 million.
The figures apply to 90 per cent of patients, and Kapur said 10 per cent waited even longer.
British Columbia Premier John Horgan, chair of the Council of the Federation made up of the country’s 13 premiers, has joined his colleagues to call on the federal government to increase its share of health-care spending from 22 to 35 per cent as they try to implement initiatives aimed at improving the system.
Horgan said he met with Justin Trudeau last November when the prime minister visited British Columbia following catastrophic floods. He said he told Trudeau about the premiers’ concerns regarding health costs, which will be discussed at their first in-person meeting in three years.
Trudeau committed to assembling a team to work on health funding, but that has not yet materialized, Horgan said in an interview.
“Eight months of what I thought was going to be a concerted effort has produced nothing other than a meeting in Victoria where all of us will gather to express our profound disappointment at the lack of leadership from Ottawa,” he said.
Trudeau has said the federal share of spending on health-care transfers would be negotiated after the COVID-19 pandemic winds down.
Horgan, who criticized April’s federal budget for not including health funding, said he and his colleagues are ready to address Ottawa’s expectations of any accountability measures that would come with more money.
But premiers first need to know what types of “strings” will be attached to it, he said, adding national solutions are needed to deal with problems plaguing provinces and territories.
But Horgan suggested he was not in favour of jurisdictions working together to nationally license health-care professionals, allowing them to work anywhere in the country, because that would amount to “poaching” people after their training has been paid for.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his province has an ambitious plan to rebuild its health-care system, and the federal government can help by paying its fair share of health funding.
“The premiers have been asking the federal government to come to the table and be a true funding partner,” he said in a written statement.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said that when universal health care was implemented in Canada, it was envisioned as a 50-per-cent split between the federal and provincial governments.
“COVID-19 showed the weaknesses in Canada’s health-care system, and we need to address those weaknesses for Canadians,” he said in a statement.
Dr. Katharine Smart, president of the Canadian Medical Association, said enabling health workers to be mobile would “alleviate pressure points” as part of one solution to increase resources where they’re needed.
“When a universal health system is not able to provide basic health care needs to Canadians, we must accept that it has failed and work together to fix it,” she said in a release. “This will take more than simply investing more money.”
Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, said some emergency and intensive care departments that would have been staffed by 20 nurses now have half that number.
Legislation in Ontario restricting wages has meant many nurses are leaving to work for agencies so they have flexible hours and a choice of employers, or they’re quitting the profession because of poor working conditions, Silas said.
“So, the message I’m trying to give to premiers is: I have never, in 30 years of union work, seen nurses so angry. And they’re a tough bunch.”
Some premiers have indicated they will focus on other priorities at the meeting.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said during a recent news conference he wants to address issues with Canada’s energy supply.
“The No. 1 ask would be to have a very serious look at the policy positions that the government of Canada is taking that are preventing … production of some of the most sustainable energy in the world,” Moe said.
Kenney said the premiers will also be discussing internal trade and how they can address the tens of billions of dollars in economic activity lost every year due to barriers put up by provinces.
Canada’s “historic labour shortage” is also a concern for Ford. Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson echoed the sentiment, saying lower immigration during the pandemic has contributed to the problem.
“We need the federal government to work with us to tackle the labour shortfall to help ensure our economy remains strong during these challenging times,” Ford said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 10, 2022.
— With files from Steve Lambert in Winnipeg and Colette Derworiz in Edmonton
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
