N.B. hospital patients will jump the line for nursing homes

Rachel Cave · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 16, 2025 5:41 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Horizon's 4 determination hospitals are successful specified a captious authorities of overcapacity, trying to header with a grounds fig of patients who truly beryllium elsewhere, the CEO is calling connected the state to bump those patients up of different New Brunswickers waiting for placements successful nursing homes and different assemblage care. 

Margaret Melanson says much than 650 radical who person nary aesculapian crushed to beryllium successful the infirmary are nevertheless there, taking up acute attraction beds, and it's having a profound interaction passim the infirmary system. 

"It means less beds for patients who request surgery," she said.

"It causes exigency section hold times to turn longer. It forces attraction to beryllium delivered successful hallways, eating areas, lounges, and different makeshift spaces — conditions that are acold from perfect for patients, families, and staff."

Pushing these patients, chiefly seniors, to the apical of the waitlist for nursing location beds, is simply a measurement of past resort, Melanson said.

"But we are present astatine a constituent wherever nary different enactment exists."

WATCH |  Record fig of patients successful infirmary beds should beryllium getting attraction elsewhere: 

Nursing location admissions are usually done chronologically.

However the curate of societal improvement tin prioritize admissions when requested by a determination wellness authority.

Minister agrees to fast-track patients for 30 days

Social Development Minister Cindy Miles confirmed Thursday that successful effect to Horizon's request, her section volition prioritize patients astatine the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital, the Saint John Regional Hospital, the Upper River Valley Hospital and the Miramichi Regional Hospital. 

She couldn't accidental however galore transfers to expect implicit the adjacent 30 days 

"You're looking for immoderate hard numbers. I don't person those for you close now."

Horizon says the measurement was past taken successful January 2024, allowing 23 patients to beryllium transferred retired of the Saint John Regional and 52 patients to beryllium transferred retired of the Chalmers.

The contented of alleged bed-blockers has been gathering for decades, though the word is nary longer utilized due to the fact that it suggests the patients are astatine fault. 

Health-care workers present notation to them arsenic ALC patients, oregon alternate level of attraction patients.It's not precisely wide wherefore the 4 hospitals are seeing grounds numbers of ALC patients now, but Horizon says they inhabit astir 40 per cent of disposable infirmary beds. 

Rising unit successful ER

That creates unit each the mode down to the exigency room, says Dr. Yogi Sehgal, a physician successful exigency medicine astatine the Chalmers Hospital successful Fredericton.

 He said patients person been waiting up to 15 hours to beryllium seen, and this is unacceptable. 

• Horizon information rep warns 1 successful 3 acute attraction beds occupied by patients waiting for nursing homes 
• 'We are putting radical successful danger,' authoritative says astir Horizon's semipermanent attraction patients

"In the past fewer weeks it's been amazingly bad," Sehgal said. "We were conscionable jam-packed with admissions continuously.

"And arsenic overmuch arsenic radical are doing truly hard enactment to effort to get patients retired of the exigency country and get patients retired of the infirmary arsenic rapidly arsenic possible, it backs up truthful quickly."

Sehgal is optimistic that the inclination toward collaborative attraction volition relieve immoderate unit connected the strategy arsenic caller squad clinics travel online and prime up momentum. 

Meanwhile, helium said, the state truly needs much nursing location beds oregon immoderate benignant of facilities wherever ALC patients tin beryllium cared for, extracurricular the infirmary system. 

Dr. Fraser MacKay, seat of the rural, distant and tiny municipality conception for the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, said that overall, Canada has seen a decreasing fig of infirmary beds successful proportionality to the increasing population.

National situation gets emotional 

He said the fig 1 occupation successful exigency medicine is blocked entree to care. Many patients admitted to infirmary cannot get retired of the exigency department because they person nary spot to go. 

"It's precise emotional. It's precise hard connected each staff, connected each patients and each families," MacKay said.

MacKay said the strategy truly needs immoderate imperishable structural change, and each departments request to travel unneurotic to fig retired semipermanent solutions.

"Until that happens, we conscionable support rolling deeper into our crisis."