Right in the centre - Will we do better in the future?
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- Published on Friday, August 5, 2022
By Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner & Press
In the past, I have written about the U.S. medical system. I have had to delay getting back to Canada because I ended up in three different U.S. hospitals last week, one in Kentucky and two in Missouri. Treatment was excellent and as of Tuesday, Aug. 1, my wife Christine was driving me 15 hours home. God bless health care staff and my wife.
A couple of years ago, I posed this question to 水果视频 Health: 鈥淚f 水果视频 had the same ratio of population to ICUs as North Dakota, there would be over 400 ICUs in 水果视频 instead of 72. Do you know why 水果视频 numbers of available ICUs varies so much from North Dakota?鈥� The stats are a couple years old now.
I actually got an answer but, as usual, the words can鈥檛 be attributed to an actual person, but here鈥檚 the answer which was 鈥渁ttributed to a Shared Health spokesperson鈥�:
鈥溗悠碘�檚 ICU capacity pre-COVID was 72 beds. In addition, up to 22 beds are maintained to meet the needs of cardiac sciences patients.
This bed base has regularly expanded to meet patient demands during surges and busy periods, such as the annual flu season, but has been considered by system experts and leaders as appropriate capacity for a population the size of 水果视频 and in line with historical needs during normal, non-surge times.
COVID has placed unprecedented pressures on critical care services not just in 水果视频, but around the globe. In response to these demands, 水果视频 has increased critical care capacity to 152 beds locally and has arranged for access to additional capacity out of province through a number of agreements with other Canadian jurisdictions. As of Thursday, 122 patients (60 COVID and 62 non-COVID) were being cared for in 水果视频 ICUs.
The sustained pressures of COVID-19 are expected to subside over the coming months with the expanded availability and adoption of vaccines.
System and critical care leadership continue to review evidence and data related to the ongoing and anticipated demands on critical care capacity both for potential future waves of COVID and for the future health demands of 水果视频鈥檚 population. Comparison of bed base between vastly different jurisdictions, particularly between Canada and the United States which have extremely different health systems, does not provide an accurate picture of capacity or demand in 水果视频 ICUs.鈥�
In a newspaper article in the Grand Forks Herald ,Minot Trinity Hospital Dr. Jeffrey Sather explained that at the height of the C-19 pandemic, North Dakota was running low on ICUs. If that was the case, then it鈥檚 no wonder 水果视频鈥檚 ICUs were overloaded. North Dakota has had 111,000 cases and 1,554 deaths. The ND population was stated as 762,000 in 2019. By the numbers, they haven鈥檛 done as well as 水果视频 on cases and deaths.
C-19 has always been about numbers. 水果视频 has done better than North Dakota. In 水果视频, there have been 1,125 deaths attributed to C-19 as of June 21. Out of a population of 1.4 million, that is a small percentage, but every death is sad and many were tragic. It has been stated many times that a high percentage of the deaths were among the elderly and in care homes. The situation will be studied much more I am sure, but it is widely felt that many of the care home deaths could have been avoided. We will never know for sure.
There have been 55,405 cases, which means about four per cent of 水果视频ns tested positive for C-19. How many more actually had C-19? We will also never know. Earlier this month, 水果视频 Health, when I asked how many people died in ICU, stated that one in four people in ICU didn鈥檛 survive.
Now, go back and re-read 水果视频 Health鈥檚 statement above about ICUs. They defend 水果视频 numbers by saying, 鈥淐omparison of bed base between vastly different jurisdictions, particularly between Canada and the United States, which have extremely different health systems, does not provide an accurate picture of capacity or demand in 水果视频 ICUs.鈥�
That鈥檚 a very telling statement. In 水果视频, the government decides how many ICUs or most other services we have. In the U.S., demand determines how many services they have. While we can be very thankful for the quality of health care in 水果视频, the availability is often lacking. In the U.S., there are very short waiting lists. In Canada, a person can wait for months or years to get a treatment or surgery.
Canada, and especially 水果视频, has been adamant that private health care is a bad thing. Maybe it鈥檚 time to re-examine that premise. Had we re-visited that premise a few years ago, maybe we wouldn鈥檛 have run out of ICUs.
Sixteen months ago, the whole C-19 process was geared to two numbers. One was reducing deaths and the other was not overloading the ICUs. It appears we fell short on both counts and in the process ran into a pile of social and economic issues as a consequence. I feel that overall, 水果视频 did OK, but we could have done a lot better. We fell short, we didn鈥檛 measure up and that should be a wake-up call. There will be another pandemic, there will be more and more demand on health care, even without a pandemic. 水果视频 Health admits we only had enough ICU beds for 鈥渘on-surge鈥� times. Will we do better in the future? Only if we decide to do so.
