TORONTO – From the kitchen to the aisles the step is short. At least that’s how it seems. The shortage of staff is there and it is serious to the point that the Headwaters Health Care Centre (HHCC) in Orangeville has asked its staff to work overtime last Saturday, Sunday and tomorrow and to do them where there is most need. 

According to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) the Headwaters Health Care Centre in the last twenty-four hours part of the staff employed in the hospital kitchen has been reassigned to help nurses in inpatient plans.

A request, this advanced by the hospital located in the city that is about 70 kilometers from Toronto, which highlights all the seriousness of the shortage of staff in the hospitals of the province. “What we are seeing here is that hospitals have to take charge of the problem on their own and that they have the ability to do so with emergency orders. Based on these they ask non-regulatory staff to help the nursing corps that within these hospitals is extremely understaffed,” said SEIU President Sharleen Stewart.

The situation, Stewart added, is a cause for great concern. “I receive phone calls from nurses, upset first of all by the fact that to assist them in their duties is unregulated staff who are obviously not able to perform the tasks of nurses – said the president of the union – at the same time, this situation is adding more pressure on nurses already overworked who find themselves having to try to give directives to this staff without training on what to do”.

It is not an easy situation for the category, in short. Stewart then raises the alarm and calls on Prime Minister Doug Ford and his government to act now and face the staffing crisis throughout the health system. “Premier Ford, its hospitals are in ruins. He has to face the emergency now. We invite you to come together to develop the plan for human resources for health. Workers need to see deeds, not just hear words of hope,” Stewart said loud and clear.

On the website of the Orangeville hospital, President and CEO Kim Delahunt posted a message about the situation in which the structure finds itself due to the lack of staff. In the post Delahunt said that 4.8% of the 925 employees, doctors and midwives of the hospital are sick and are in self-isolation due to Covid-19 and noted that despite the absences, “the hospital has maintained sufficient staff levels”.

Delahunt said some of the staff — including nursing staff in outpatient clinics and operating rooms that now provide care in inpatient units — have been redeployed to other areas with greater needs. “Daily staff meetings with our leaders help plan for daily and future needs. The shifts proposed to the staff are discussed in advance as much as possible, so that our employees are informed about where they will work during the next shift,” Delahunt wrote.

The Headwaters Health Care Centre is not the only hospital in such a difficult situation. In the Peel region, for example, Trillium Health Partners (THP) is calling on non-healthcare staff to “provide support to frontline care teams” in the coming weeks due to the high number of patients, including 276 with Covid-19, in its hospitals – Credit Valley, Mississauga Hospital and Queensway Health Centre.