How the WRHA managed during the first two waves of the pandemic
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) released its annual report on Tuesday looking at how hospitals functioned in the region over the last year.
The report covers several topics including critical incidents at hospitals, births, surgeries, and hospital visits.
Mike Nader, the president and CEO of the WRHA, said the pandemic has been the main focus for the organization and it has taken a toll on the medical staff.
"This past fiscal ending March 31, 2021, was a very challenging one, not just for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority but for the health system as a whole, as we saw the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic reach our region," said Nader. "The pandemic has greatly affected the health-care sector and as a result, much of our work this year has been focused on fighting the virus and managing the impacts of the pandemic on the health-care service delivery."
CRITICAL INCIDENTS
The first stat the WRHA looks at is critical incidents within the hospital system. Legislation defines a critical incident as an unintended result to a patient that is considered serious, such as death, disability, injury or harm, an unplanned hospital visit or an extension of a hospital stay. It also does not happen from the patient's health condition or from a risk that comes from providing health services.
Between 2020 and 2021, the WRHA said there 79 critical incidents which is up from the 68 reported between 2019 and 2020.
Eighteen of these incidents were due to COVID-19, which was not recorded in the previous year. Acute care had the highest number of incidents at 49 but was down from 59 in 2019.
The largest number of incidents in one category were from skin and tissue events with 23, up from 13 the previous year.
The WRHA also documented how many complaints that were received over the year as Client Relations dealt with 2,524 complaints. This was slightly up from the 2,368 in 2019.
The majority of the complaints had to do with COVID-19 with 1,145 followed by 891 complaints related to care/treatment of a patient, which was actually down from the 1,000 complaints in 2019.
When looking at complaints by program, Emergency/Urgent Care received the most complaints with 774 but that is down from 907.
Family Medicine complaints were also up in 2020 with 514, compared to 300 in 2019.
Compliments about services provided were also recorded with 474 presented to Client Relations, down from the 680 the previous year.
URGENT CARE VISITS
Urgent care visit overall in the WRHA were down by just under 12,000 visits. A total of 140,143 visits happened in 2020-21 down from the 152,457 in 2019.
Despite the overall decline in visits, they were actually up at the Concordia Urgent Care and the Seven Oaks Urgent Care.
Home care services were also slightly down to 18,029 patients receiving care from 18,411.
SURGERIES AND BIRTHS
Throughout the pandemic health-care services took a hit as energy was focused towards COVID-19 and that was the case with surgeries.
Many surgeries had to be postponed and that was reflected in the WRHA's numbers as only 11,325 OR surgeries were performed in 2020, down from the 13,989 done in 2019. Day surgeries also dropped from 29,899 to 21,343.
There were also fewer births in the WRHA as they dipped from 6,024 to 4,975. Despite this, more births happened at the birth centre going from 233 to 296.
OTHER HOSPITAL STATISTICS
The number of beds in the WRHA slightly increased to 2,274 from 2,265 and the average occupancy was 85.26 per cent down from the 92.30 occupancy in 2019.
The number of Emergency Department/Urgent Care admissions were down in 2020 but the percentage of overall visits was up from 11.01 per cent to 11.34 per cent.
Just over 6,100 left before being seen.
These stats did not include the Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.