Manitoba hospitals low on essentials for feeding babies, reading heart rates due to supply chain issues
CBC
Nurses say Manitoba's hospitals are low on critical supplies they use to feed premature babies, deliver intravenous nutrition to sick children and adults, and monitor patients' vital signs.
Hospitals have been short on some supplies for the past several weeks, a spokesperson for Shared Health has confirmed.
There have been supply chain issues at different points in the pandemic, driven by a number of factors like shortages of raw materials and transportation issues, they wrote.
"Issues with some supplies have been ongoing for the past several weeks and predate the protests at the border," a spokesperson wrote in an email to CBC News.
But an email to staff at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre sent Monday says the border closures are at least in part to blame.
"As you are aware, supply availability has been reduced due to resource shortages, staffing shortages at manufacturing plants, border closures and highway closures due to inclement weather in Manitoba and Ontario," the email reads, adding that arrangements are being made to secure more supplies.
This comes as some health-care staff say the scarcity of necessary medical items is further complicating care of patients in a hospital system already under immense strain from nearly two years of the pandemic.
"Everything is just hanging on daily," one nurse who works in pediatrics said.
"We are making do with what we have for now, but we obviously can't do that indefinitely."
CBC News has agreed not to reveal the identities of the nurses because they fear they could be punished at work for speaking out.
The nurses say hospitals are running low on items they need to feed sick babies, children and adults through IV. This includes syringes, bottles and feeding tubes.
Hospitals are also low on what they feed patients: baby formula and total parenteral nutrition (TPN) — a specialized mixture of nutrients given through an IV tube.
"It's not fair for the patients or their families," one nurse said.
Hospital staff are on the fly trying to decide whether some hospital items normally intended for one use can be sterilized and used again.
Lawyers for a man acquitted in a high-profile Toronto murder trial where a police officer was killed are holding a news conference Thursday to address a recent Ontario Provincial Police report that re-examines evidence from the trial.
Quebec provincial police arrested two men after a suspicious package grounded flights headed to Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport on Wednesday.
A nurse in Winnipeg says Canada's immigration system is undercutting efforts to address a shortage of health-care workers, after his application for permanent residency was rejected based on a technicality.
This year's provincial budget is "essentially" the status quo for wildfire preparation and response, the finance minister says.
Parts of B.C.'s coast continues to see heavy rain as Environment and Climate Change Canada warns of a prolonged atmospheric river this week.
Alberta teachers say they face increasingly dangerous conditions at school, with the most common threat coming from their own students.
Cataract surgeries at Charlottetown’s outpatient clinic are expected to resume in April, after procedures scheduled for March were cancelled due to the clinic reaching its annual funding target earlier than expected.
Shannon Elgazzar can see planes taking off from Cairo International Airport from her balcony.
Yellowknife city council has voted in favour of signing an agreement with the federal government that's aimed at bringing piped water and sewer service to the city's airport.
While Canada's economy is far more reliant on exports to the U.S. than vice versa, Canadian negotiators have crucial ammunition in their efforts to land a trade deal that reduces or eliminates tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Nova Scotia PC MLA Rick Burns says he and his wife are victims of blackmail after hackers accessed and shared videos and intimate images on his personal devices this week.
The Saint John Board of Police Commissioners and Chief Robert Bruce have lost a bid to permanently deny public access to all court documents related to conduct complaints nine officers filed against the chief.
With the looming October election, Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard has delivered a modest budget as the province aims to withstand ongoing trade disruptions and mounting geopolitical pressure.