All across Canada, emergency rooms are reaching overcapacity on a nearly weekly basis.
In Saskatchewan, the situation is no different as people prepare to spend hours in the ER waiting for care.
Rebekah Unger suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and chronic back pain. Around Christmas she started feeling pain so she went to Saskatoon City Hospital’s emergency room despite her nervousness.
“I couldn’t live like that so I had to go in knowing I was going to have to sit there,” Unger said on the emergency room.
“I sat there for five hours before finally seeing a doctor who asked me a couple of questions. They did no testing — gave me some narcotics and sent me on my way.”
She returned days later, this time for six hours before Unger says she was again sent home with no explanation for what’s wrong.
“There’s no positivity in leaving with no idea of what’s wrong or what happened or how to help it.”
It’s not always the same story, but Unger’s situation is one shared by others.
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“I was reluctant to go (to the emergency room),” Saskatoon resident Nicole Moggey said. “I considered alternatives but it seemed like the best place to go.”
Moggey took her son to the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital to get his stitches redone.
“We actually went to a walk-in clinic prior to going to the hospital where we received inadequate care. So we then went to the hospital because it seemed like the only option,” Moggey said.
“We were there for at least three or four hours once it was all wrapped up.”
And while they were treated on a hallway bed, Moggey is happy with the way they were treated by nurses and doctors.
“When we were doing the intake process, they were taking time to make my son feel comfortable,” Moggey said. “They were giving him compliments.”
Both Moggey and Unger say there was only one doctor on shift.
“You could tell that they were used to pivoting when needed,” Moggey explained.
Registered nurse Melissa McGillivray says more people are using the ER than 10 years ago and it is part of the exhaustion felt by coworkers.
“If it weren’t for the co-workers I have, and the physicians we work with, and support people like our lab team, our care aids, or dedicated care workers… I wouldn’t be sticking around in emerge,” McGillivray said.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) said it’s both grateful for front-line workers and it is working to add more.
“There may be a number of different reasons why a patient may end up waiting in the emergency department,” SHA chief operating officer Derek Miller said. “We’re always committed to meeting the needs of the patients.”
And while wait times can be frustrating, both Moggey and Unger are very thankful for the help they received and the people that brought it.
“Please just trust the health care workers and be kind to them, they are doing the best they can in a really dreadful scenario,” Unger echoed.