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5f hi pi m tf r economist sunttribune health thursday jan 6 2000 staff photorob alary dale smith coordinator of emergency medicine at york central hospital says shes facing the worst hospital crunch in her 30 years of nursing no end in sight for crisis from theyre out there trying to find a home for their patient york central has been on critical care bypass more often than any other time in its history in fact the hospital was only on ccb for a total of 1012 hours all last year but surpassed that mark in a single day earlier this week staff are very burnt out from working overtime and extra shifts i dont even remember the last time i sat down for a meal said smith and the worst part is its not going away for a while and york central isnt alone at york county hospital in newmarket there were as many people waiting in the emergency room yesterday as there were at torontos sunnybrook health science centre sunnybrook went on ccb to help cope with the over flow something york county isnt allowed to do because of its dis tance from other hospitals earlier this week markham stouffville hospital was on ccb for two days on boxing day it was the only hospital taking ambulances in the toronto area we had our fair share of toronto ambulances said markham stouffville president jim maclean who said he sympathizes with paramedics struggling to find a hospital to accept patients it doesnt occur that often in york region but i think its very tough for a paramedic when the closest hospital is on ccb and they have to go farther away he said maclean suggested the current crisis can be linked to a number of factors including the timing of christmas and new years this year both falling on weekends when walkin clinics and doctors offices are often closed- ive never seen it this bad lome cowx paramedic the peak flu season combined with an aging and growing popula tion doesnt help either he said the backlog gets worse when patients have to wait for lab tests and xrays and backlogs create a trickledown effect that can affect people waiting for an ambulance york region paramedic lome cowx explained when an ambu lance has to go farther to find an open er ward it puts their coverage area in jeopardy because it leaves it unattended longer that critical time you need isnt there he said ive never seen it this bad the guys are holding up but we have no control over the matter were frustrated for the patients and for the guys in emergency with so many toronto hospitals on ccb york hospitals are being swamped with toronto patients on new years day york county saw 270 people in its emergency room compared to the norm of 140 patients a day it was a very busy night everybody was sick said dr robert doherty the hospitals chief of emergency he said one of the most tragic cases involved a 75yearold woman from perth here visiting family who suffered respiratory arrest and had to be intubated but there was no intensive care bed available at the hospital or any where else in the gta so she was transferred to kingston its an awful thing to tell a fami ly their loved one is going to kingston and not even toronto doherty said he added there are even some patients being redirected to hospi tals that arent equipped to treat their illness were seeing some patients who need treatment like dialysis a pro cedure york county cant provide doherty said we had a patient arrive who lives across the street from york central which does have a dialysis centre so we have to assess them and get them to a place that does do dialysis the flu bug has hit the elderly particularly hard and in some cases is developing into pneumo nia they need oxygen and its not just a matter of giving them med ication and sending them home doherty said maclean blamed the current er crunch on a combination of popu lation growth hospital downsizing and an insufficient number of new longterm care facilities weve downsized the acute care system too small so there are fewer care beds and if there are no new longterm care beds we cant trans fer those people out of hospital he said and while the flu season is expected to continue until at least march maclean said several loom ing issues mean the backlogs will remain for other reasons nurses and doctors are in high demand making it difficult to increase staff to serve the extra beds needed and the staffing shortages could get worse with all three york region hospitals on the verge of building expansions and seeking new staff flu bug takes big bite from page i in the elderly and those prone to phenomena it can be dangerous because you can get a secondary bacterial infection it can start with the flu and develop into pneumonia saidvblkening york hospitals are admitting nursing home patients from out side the region because toronto hospital emergency rooms have been so jammed with sick peo ple this flu bug is really knocking the bejeebers out of people we had a gentleman from a nursing home at bafhurst and eglinton said york region ambulance paramedic lome cowx this flu bug is really knocking the bejeebers out of people people are passing out and thats a bad flu one of our ambulance guys working on a shift just before christmas passed out from it health officials suggest a flu vaccination is still the best defence available from family doctors for about 15 anyone over 65 or deemed to be at risk due to chronic illness can receive the shot for free its not too late it could last until april or may said volkening it may not protect you 100 per cent but you may not end up being bedridden with it for as long healthcare workers are pro viding the flu shot free of charge but for some extensive exposure to the sick has destroyed any immunity they may have had that makes it hard to find nurses and support staff to call in when hospitals are busy it can be very harmful to your health a lot of our staff are sick said dale smith coordinator of emergency medicine at york central hospital in richmond hill and it may be some time before there is any relief from the winter bug doctors suggest it could hang around until march 5 peppertree all i klassics fall winter a womens fashions wi 1 la g mmatastnorti mkham village fashions and accessories regular ticket prices excludes new spring arrivals special orders holds and layaways