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This article was published 19/5/2016 (1584 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some Winnipeg hospitals are overflowing with patients, and the problem has persisted since at least the middle of last year.

According to patient figures obtained by the Free Press, St. Boniface General Hospital has been operating at above normal capacity since the beginning of August last year, while Victoria General Hospital has seen its hospital occupancy rate at more than 100 per cent for most of that period.

The overall hospital occupancy rate for medicine and family medicine beds for the entire Winnipeg health region stood at 99 per cent for the week ending March 14 — the latest data available show. That's far above the ideal occupancy rate of roughly 90 to 95 per cent.

According to a Winnipeg Regional Health Authority weekly patient flow report, St. Boniface hospital had an occupancy rate of 109 per cent in mid-March, Victoria was at 107 per cent, while Grace Hospital was 100 per cent full.

"It is a concern. Ideally we’d like to see us operating at a much lower level of occupancy," said Lori Lamont, a WRHA vice-president responsible for patient flow issues.

She said there are seasonal variations in occupancy rates, and it is not unusual to see higher numbers in January, February and March.

Occupancy rates (week ending March 14, 2016)

Lamont said the high recent occupancy rates are due to a combination of factors. In the early part of the year, there were increased hospitalization rates due to influenza, she said, adding the WRHA is working to ensure that patients are discharged as early as it's safe for hospitals to do so.

However, according to weekly hospital patient flow reports submitted to the WRHA's board of directors, hospital crowding has been an issue at several hospitals since last summer. In early August, three hospitals — St. B., Victoria and Concordia — were above 100 per cent occupancy.

The situation at St. Boniface persisted through the summer and into the fall and winter. In two weekly reports, one in early September and another in mid-October, hospital occupany for medicine beds (not counting surgical, geriatric or rehab) peaked at 110 per cent at St. B.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS St. Boniface General Hospital has been operating at above normal capacity since the beginning of August last year, while Victoria General Hospital has seen its hospital occupancy rate at more than 100 per cent for most of that period, according to patient figures obtained by the Free Press.

Lamont said when hospitals are operating at above their normal capacity, it means that extra beds are opened on a contingency basis to accommodate the high patient volumes.

She said no surgeries have been cancelled due to the high hospital occupancy levels in recent months, although some have been moved to other facilities.

"We work very hard at protecting our surgical slates. That is one of the priorities in our patient flow. And while there are occasional surgical cancellations they do tend to be for other kinds of reasons," Lamont said.

A shortage of available hospital beds leads has a ripple effect within a hospital, creating long waits for service in hospital emergency rooms. St. Boniface ER patients admitted to hospital had some of the longest waits for a bed in mid-March. Only 19 per cent received them within eight hours, compared with 26 per cent citywide. The WRHA's longtime goal has been for 90 per cent of admitted patients to receive a bed within eight hours of arriving at an emergency room.

The WRHA has been continually stymied in its attempt to improve hospital patient flows. In some areas, the situation has grown worse, not better.

The new Progressive Conservative government has made lowering ER waits — and waits for certain procedures, such as hip and knee replacements — a big priority.

Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen could not be reached for comment on the hospital occupancy issue on Thursday. However, an aide said a task force on health times promised by the Progressive Conservatives during the election campaign would be examining all aspects of the health system, including hospital occupancy rates, as part of its work.

Premier Brian Pallister said Thursday that the task force is unlikely to be launched until late fall. "I'm hoping before the snow falls," he said.

In mid-March, there were 53 patients in Winnipeg hospitals awaiting placement in nursing homes, a significant number but not as high a number as it has been in recent years.

Sandi Mowat, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, said if the overcrowding persists it could lead to caregiver burnout.

"Nurses always go above and beyond to provide the best care possible. But the result of this is that the overcapacity leads to overtime, lots of overtime," she said. "It does take its toll."

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca