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
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.