Waking up to multiple media requests after a long shift last night. Almost happy that I was sleeping and couldn’t respond, because I really just don’t know what to say anymore.
It’s clear that this government has decided they just don’t care about any of us. /1
They don’t care that our children will get sick. They don’t care that they’re gambling with the lives/livelihoods of Albertans. All they are focused on is “the economy.” Well, there is no economy without PEOPLE who are functional and alive. There’s no future without our KIDS. /2
They don’t care that HCWs haven’t recovered after over a year of hell. That the patients just keep coming and the resources keep shrinking. That’s without more COVID cases - what will we even do if those start rising again? We are dispensable to them. All of us. /3
I’m just going to come out and say it.
THEY DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT US.
All they care about is keeping their voter base and donors happy. All they care about is getting re-elected at any cost.
Please, don’t forget this. Don’t forget how little they care about you. /4
Let's take a deeper dive into bed closures in AB and the implications. @AHS_media confirmed that over 100 beds are being temporarily closed across AB as a direct result of staff shortages. As you've seen in my previous tweets, this is from both nurse and doctor shortages. /1
Over the last several wks, several rural communities have had ERs closed due to MD shortages. Lacombe and Royal Alexandra Hospita ERs have faced significant bed closures due to nursing shortages. RAH (where I work) will have at least 6 ER beds closed for the ENTIRE summer. /2
Why do these bed closures matter? The bottom line is that Albertans will suffer. Fewer beds means longer wait times during a time of year where patient volumes skyrocket. Longer wait times means sicker patients and potential bad outcomes. It also means more burnout for HCWs. /3
Today marks the last day of rural health week in AB.
First, a shoutout to all of my colleagues in rural AB, doing an amazing job working in an under-resourced setting.
Here are just a few examples of how rural health is being attacked and undermined in AB.
A thread… /1
Multiple rural hospitals have had to pause, reduce, and even close services due to MD shortages (hmmm, wonder why?) - this includes the closure of multiple ERs
1. Reopening plan relies on just ONE vaccination dose, with no mention of the second dose. We know that first doses are not as effective, and this plan gives no incentive to getting fully vaccinated. /2
2. Reliance on LAGGING indicators again. We've done this 2 times before and failed. Every single time, the leading indicators have increased dramatically, and led to another increase in restrictions. When will we learn? /3
How can so many people give zero fucks about anyone but themselves?
I’m having a hard time with this one today, folks. We are now at 3 days of >2000 cases/day. We’ve surpassed our wave 2 ICU peak. Young, healthy people are landing in hospital. /1
All this while 1000s deliberately gather and break PH rules and risk spreading COVID. For what? Because “freedoms?”
We are getting to the point where we are discussing taking away the freedom to have access to an ICU bed if things continue like this. What about that freedom? /2
You don’t think it’s real? You think it’s a hoax? Tell that to the 30 and 40 year olds who my colleagues and I have to help breathe because they’re SO sick from COVID. Tell that to the person in a car accident that might be deemed “too sick” to get an ICU bed. /3
Things that stuck out to me at @jkenney’s presser today:
1. He mentioned “natural immunity” multiple times - does this mean it’s a good thing so many people are getting infected as far as he’s concerned? By the way, this philosophy is very flawed. /1
2. He mentioned that new restrictions won’t stop ppl from breaking the rules and won’t target where infection is spreading. I’d like to see the sector specific data to back this up. Media has been asking for this for months. Also, why are places of worship still open?! /2
3. Ongoing reliance on vaccinations. This should NOT be a race between vaccines and variants, but he’s turning it into one. We aren’t even certain how effective vaccines are against some of the VOCs. We need to slow down community spread and bring numbers DOWN in a big way. /3
Based on current plans, wave 3 may have LESS bed capacity than wave 2 for many reasons:
1. We can’t cohort COVID pts in the same rooms anymore because of the VOCs. Before, we could put 2-4 pts in the same room on COVID wards, but now have to wait for VOC results /1
2. We can’t use the OR recovery rooms as ICU overflow space anymore because of the VOCs and inability to cohort multiple COVID patients in one space (the recovery room is one large open space with multiple patient spaces) /2
3. HCWs are burnt out and taking appropriate mental health time off. This means that we are short staffed and have to close beds because they can’t be staffed. I’ve seen this happen almost daily at work. Again, this effectively reduces the space we have to work with /3