10 beds closed at Boundary Trails Hospital due to nursing shortage
A quarter of the beds in a medical unit at a hospital between Winkler and Morden are closed due to a nursing shortage.
A spokesperson for Southern Health said Boundary Trails Hospital is experiencing nursing vacancy challenges like many other Manitoba hospitals.
After a review, 10 beds in the 40-bed medical unit are being temporarily closed to provide relief.
Southern Health said some term positions are returning this fall and the beds are expected to reopen on Oct. 11.
Boundary Trails Hospital serves a population area of about 50,000, including Winkler and the RM of Stanley. Both areas have the lowest COVID-19 vaccine coverage rates in Manitoba.
Southern Health said in a statement to CTV News "It continues to monitor the situation closely and plans are in place to respond to increased demands on bed occupancy as required."
Meanwhile, Manitoba Nurses’ Union President Darlene Jackson said the situation in southern Manitoba is at a tipping point.
“Acutely ill patients, many of whom have not been vaccinated, combined with a critical nursing shortage makes for a perfect storm,” Jackson said in a statement to CTV News.
“Beds are being closed all over the province, departments are run short and sadly, both patients and nurses are suffering. The longer we continue to look at the parts and not the whole, the worse the state of health-care in this province will become,” she said.
When asked about the staffing issue at Boundary Trails Hospital at a news conference Tuesday, Manitoba’s Minister of Health Audrey Gordon said the pandemic has presented many challenges to the health-care system not just in Winkler, but across the province. She said she’s working closely with her department and regional health authorities to increase the number of nurses that are in the province’s system by adding 400 nursing education seats throughout six post-secondary schools in Manitoba.
“So that we can ensure that sites like (Boundary Trails Hospital) are appropriately staffed to provide care, and we’ll continue to work with our stakeholders to make sure that’s done,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.