COVID, the flu, and healthcare staffing shortages

Jeff Green | Nov 02, 2022

COVID numbers are rising in our region, the flu season is early, and healthcare unions are concerned about staff shortages. It’s a recipe for a difficult start to the winter, and public health is recommending masking in-doors and in crowded outdoor spaces.

“Consider wearing a well-fitting mask, especially in shared indoor spaces,” is the advice for the general public on the Public Health Ontario website.

But unlike the COVID protocols of 2020 and 2021, which were revoked this spring, there are no mandatory measures in place in Ontario jurisdictions.

Early in October, Dr. Piotr Oglaza, the Medical Officer of Health with Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health (KFLAPH) said that the number of hospital admissions and the number of people requiring care in the intensive care unit, was “higher than it was during the Delta wave last December, the highest we’ve seen over all.”

And as of last week, that rate had only increased.

On November 1, there were 31 people from KFL&A in hospital, of which 5 required intensive care. There were 386 active cases within the high-risk population, and the positive testing rate, for the high-risk population that is eligible for testing, was 13.9%.

93 people have died of COVID in the region since the start of the pandemic, a rate of 460 per million - which is about 33% of the rate in the rest of Canada (1300+ per million) and 15% of the United States rate (over 3,000 per million).

But it is higher than the rate in jurisdictions such as Japan, and very much higher than the local rate a year ago.

On November 1, 2021, there were no COVID patients in hospital in KFL&A, and eighteen months into the pandemic, there had been only 6 COVID deaths in the region. That was under 4% of the pan Canadian death rate, and under 1% of the US rate.

Facing the coming demand for both hospital and paramedic services, local healthcare unions held a rally on Tuesday, (November 1) outside the emergency department at Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) to press for new hiring.

“180 nurses, paramedical, clerical and support staff would need to be hired immediately to cope with the influx of patients tied to both COVID and flu infection surges. This is in addition to over 1000 that will be needed in 2023, to just maintain existing patient care and service levels at KHSC in order to deal with population increases, ageing and long-covid” said Dave Verch, a registered practical nurse (RPN) and first vice-president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE).

“Hospital emergency room (ER) and other unit closures, and staffing shortages, will only intensify under the current health human resource strategy of the PC provincial government, which is failing patients and hospital staff miserably,” he added, noting that the turnover in hospital staff is currently at 15%, double the pre-COVID rate.

Hospital staffing shortages are having a spillover effect on paramedic response times, due to increasingly long off-load delays as paramedics must remain with their patients until emergency room staff are able to take over and provide continuity of care.

This, along with an increasing demand for service, has led OPSEU Local 462, which represents paramedics working for Frontenac Paramedic Services, to ask for increased investments in paramedic services serving Kingston and Frontenac County.

In 2021, paramedics responded to over 26,500 emergency medical calls in Kingston and Frontenac County. From January to June 2022, there was an 11.89% increase in calls compared to the same period in 2021, according to information provided by the union local.

“Actual call volumes have far exceeded projected growth, of 4.5% per year, but staffing levels have not kept up with this increased demand for paramedic services,” said Shauna Dunn, president of OPSEU 462