N.L. pediatric ICU nears capacity over weekend, placed on diversion to Halifax
CBC
Any children in Newfoundland and Labrador who fell critically ill over the weekend would have had to be flown out of province to Nova Scotia to receive care, CBC News has learned.
Due to a lack of capacity, the pediatric intensive-care unit at the Janeway children's hospital in St. John's was placed on diversion status over the weekend, meaning patients would have been sent to the IWK Health Centre in Halifax. According to an internal email obtained by CBC, staff in Newfoundland and Labrador's four regional health authorities were directed to stabilize patients before sending them to Nova Scotia.
CBC has not yet confirmed whether capacity had returned to normal or if the PICU is still diverting patients to the IWK hospital.
Speaking with reporters Monday afternoon, Newfoundland and Labrador Health Minister John Haggie said no children were sent out of province over the weekend due to the low capacity. He said the PICU at the Janeway has a six-bed capacity, and five out of the six beds were full over the weekend.
"Eastern Health reached out to IWK for a contingency plan in case that sixth bed was full and the seventh patient came in," Haggie said.
Haggie said he remembers the situation occurring once before, but it's unusual. He said the unit averages three patients at a time.
Haggie said the capacity issues in the PICU are unrelated to the cluster of COVID-19 cases on the Burin Peninsula, which are mostly in people under age 20.
When asked about concerns of staff shortages in the PICU, Haggie said he isn't aware of any "significant challenges" in that unit. However, he said the neonatal intensive-care unit does have significant staffing challenges.
Since the PICU and NICU are both specialized areas, Haggie said, it can be difficult to bring staff in from other units.
"It's a skill set that's hard to find," he said.
CBC has asked Eastern Health and the Registered Nurses Union of Newfoundland and Labrador for comment.
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