REGINA — Saskatchewan health officials may look to rural health facilities for capacity support as intensive care units continue to push at the seams, said both the premier and the health authority during updates this week.
Premier Scott Moe and Health Minister Paul Merriman appeared during a public press conference on Jan. 24, the first since Moe reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 13 and since Merriman last appeared publicly on Dec. 30.
During the conference, Moe said that the Saskatchewan Health Authority has been working on a plan to potentially transfer patients from city facilities that are close or over capacity to beds open in rural hospitals.
“We might have to move some patients out to smaller centers to be able to make room [in urban centers] if we need, but we’re also complementing that with staffing resources,” said Merriman.
Merriman said that hospitals in both Saskatoon and Regina are experiencing high capacity concerns, while rural facilities are currently using about 70 per cent of available beds.
“We’re looking at load-leveling our system,” said Merriman. “We have to make sure we are utilizing our health care system to its full potential.”
The decision to make such transfers would be done to provide the best care for patients for COVID-19 treatment, said both the health minister and the SHA.
SHA interim chief operating officer Derek Miller, during an update on Jan. 26, said that potential transfers would be made for patients with a lower care need, who could be served in a rural facility.
“Patients that would no longer potentially require the services of a tertiary hospital, for example, may be identified for transfer to another setting,” said Miller.
Miller said the goal of such transfers would be to optimize care, reduce pressure on staff and return patients to their home communities from urban hospitals where possible. Thresholds are currently undefined, said Miller, but officials are watching pressure concerns.
“Locally we do have triggers that are built into each of the hospitals,” said Miller, when asked about what would prompt transfers.
Saskatchewan Union of Nurses Tracy Zambory has since expressed to media that patient transfers to rural hospitals won’t be possible due to short-staffing and facility service closures, despite the health minister’s statement that capacity is available.
Several rural facilities have seen service capacities reduced in the last month, according to the SHA, including in Biggar, Buffalo Narrows and Preeceville, among others..
Provincial officials are currently tracking hospitalization rates to inform public health action moving forward, said the premier.
On Jan. 26, the province reached a total of 315 patients admitted, nearing the past high of 356 individuals during the peak of the fourth wave in October 2021.
Modelling data referenced by chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab last week suggested that Saskatchewan is still two to four weeks away from the peak of the fifth wave of transmission.
The majority of patients currently hospitalized have COVID, according to the provincial dashboard, with 149 people in acute or ICU care due to COVID and 132 reporting incidental infection of the virus after being admitted.
