"It's clogged on both sides": Emergency rooms in Châteauguay and Valleyfield are overflowing with patients in the corridors

Emergency rooms in Montérégie are so overwhelmed that paramedics are forced to stay at patients' bedsides for hours, while other patients pile up in the corridors.

• Also read: “We use paramedics to do the work of nurses”: Montérégie paramedics had to spend the night in the emergency room with patients

• Also read: “It’s nonsense”: Valleyfield patients will be transported by ambulance to Châteauguay rather than to their own hospital

"It's clogged on both sides," says a nurse about the emergency rooms in Châteauguay and Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.

"Patients hang out in the hallways. There's zero privacy," continues the Suroît emergency room employee. Call bells have even been added to the hallways, since the emergency room is used to having patients there.

14 paramedics trapped

Occupancy rates in both emergency rooms have exceeded 200% since the beginning of the week. On Wednesday, a total of seven ambulances, or 14 paramedics, had to spend hours at the bedside of patients at Anna-Laberge Hospital due to a lack of stretchers.

"There was no more room to sleep patients," says Mélanie Gignac, local president of the FIQ. "Patients were lying on ambulance stretchers, and doctors went to check on them."

The Montérégie Ambulance Technicians Cooperative (CETAM) confirmed that its teams were stuck at the emergency room for periods of four to six hours. The ambulances came from Valleyfield, Sainte-Catherine, and Ormstown, among others. CETAM had to deploy two additional ambulances to the road due to those held up at the emergency room.

It repeats itself

"Retentions are increasing," says spokesperson Renaud Pilon. In February, up to six paramedics had to be taken to the Valleyfield emergency room due to a lack of staff on site.

Châteauguay nurses also held a four-hour sit-in yesterday to denounce the "compromised safety" of patients, continues Mélanie Gignac. On Wednesday, a patient classified as P3, or semi-urgent, waited 22 hours at the Châteauguay emergency room, she says.

More ambulances, fewer stretchers

In an email, the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest noted that it received 37 daytime ambulances in Châteauguay on Wednesday, seven more than usual. Six stretchers were removed due to construction.

In addition, a quarter of the short-stay beds are occupied by 52 alternative care level (ASL) patients, i.e., seniors waiting for a place in accommodation.

Ambulances were diverted to other hospitals and leave was given to ease the emergency.

– With Héloïse Archambault