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March 29, 2024 09:45

Critical Care Under Strain in Saskatchewan

“Critical care capacity is under strain and all avenues of support need to be explored to so we can continue to care for extremely ill patients,” said Dr. Susan Shaw, SHA’s Chief Medical Officer said in a September 22, 2021, media release. In an effort to balance the health system’s capacity, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital. This decision was made in consultation with both adult and pediatric critical care personnel. Dr. Lori Garchinski, Director of Tertiary Care for the SHA, affirmed in a media question/answer period on Thursday September 23rd, that while some young adults will be cared for in JPCH PICU, pediatric patients will still be the priority and no pediatric patients will be displaced.

This is not the first time adult critical care patients have received care in JPCH. In February 2021 as cases counts rose in the province, JPCH temporarily raised their admission age to 30 years less a day and intermittently cared for some young adults. Dr. Shaw estimated that less than 10 adults had received care in the PICU early this year. “In the early stages of the pandemic response the PICU and the full JPCH team quickly looked for ways we could support the provincial pandemic response while keeping focus on the children and families we served. Our PICU team has the skills and expertise to expand our services to a select group of the adult population, taking pressure off the greater system,” said Dr. Tanya Holt, Division Head, Pediatric Intensive Care and Pediatric Transport for the SHA. Dr. Garchinski  shared that the critical care nurses in the PICU have not and will not be deployed to different areas, their skills would be utilized through caring for adult patients admitted to JPCH.

The increased pressure on the health system from the pandemic has done more than just slow down medical procedures and postpone elective surgeries, the Organ & Tissue Donation Program has been suspended at this time. Unfortunately, this means that if a Saskatchewan resident who is a registered organ donor dies, their organs will not be gifted to someone else as they had wished. The staff who normally work in this area, are typically the ones who have critical care experience, and their skills are needed in other areas at this time.  Health officials continue to be hopeful that the restrictions introduced will begin to counter the upward trend in case numbers and thereby begin to decrease the demand on healthcare facilities.