Bring back masks? Concern grows as children's hospital increasingly overwhelmed
CTV
Concern about surrounding Alberta's overwhelmed healthcare system grew Saturday after an announcement by AHS that health-care workers are being diverted to accommodate swelling admissions at Alberta Children's Hospital.
Concern about Alberta's overwhelmed healthcare system grew Saturday after an announcement by AHS that they were shifting healthcare workers to accommodate swelling admissions at Alberta Children's Hospital.
AHS announced Friday that respite admissions at Rotary Flames House in Calgary are being paused in order to redeploy staff to Alberta Children's Hospital.
In the announcement, AHS said in a statement Friday that the decision was due to "sustained high volumes of acutely ill patients requiring care in our emergency department, pediatric intensive care and inpatient units."
Shawn Rooney, whose young son Dominic spent the last few months of his life at the Rotary Flames House, said the care his family received there was crucial.
"The amount of care that we got there and respect and, you know, just even respite for both of us, my wife and I," Rooney said. "It was just incredible and I can't imagine not having had that at that time in his treatment."
"Like, I understand that they have to prioritize care. But it's just sickening."
Parents with children in need of respite are already facing one of the worst situation imaginable, he said, so more needs to be done to ensure that enough staff are available for that support.
