Alberta hospitals are being slammed with flu patients at a time when they’re already under strain, and doctors are bracing for more as the worst of the respiratory virus season has yet to hit.
“We’re getting crushed — everywhere. All of the emergency departments are getting hit very hard,” said Dr. Paul Parks, the president-elect of the section of emergency medication with the Alberta Medical Association.
“This is only the beginning of it.”
Experts have been warning this could be a particularly bad influenza season.
The province’s respiratory virus dashboard shows hospitalizations are rising and, at 17.8 per cent, the flu positivity rate is higher than average for this time of year.
“It’s placing immense pressure on our hospital system,” said Parks.
As of Nov. 29, 519 Albertans had been hospitalized due to influenza. There had been 31 intensive care unit admissions and 15 deaths.
Alberta is reporting its first death from influenza this season, and as CBC’s Jo Horwood reports, experts are warning that an evolving strain could be mismatched to the vaccine.
“Across the province, Alberta Health Services (AHS) facilities are seeing increased levels of patient demand. This includes high volumes of patients presenting at emergency departments (ED) and patients requiring hospitalization,” an AHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
“Among those patients are many seeking care due to respiratory illnesses.”
At Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, Dr. Sidd Thakore is seeing kids of all ages sick with the flu.
“Definitely the last few days we’ve seen those numbers go up quite substantially.”
According to Thakore, they added extra staff, including more physicians, early on and are double-bunking patients in rooms designed for one child.
“Our doubled rooms are being filled up with patients, and we are being asked to discharge patients as quickly as we can. We’re starting to see some of those pressures come in now.”
Thakore said RSV cases are starting to show up now too.
Hospital capacity troubles
According to Parks, the surge is particularly concerning because it comes at a time when hospitals are already stretched to their limits due to a variety of factors, including population growth, the government’s ongoing health system restructuring and low vaccination rates.
“All 16 of our major, big hospitals are all over-capacity,” said Parks, who is an ER physician in Medicine Hat.
“I just can’t stress enough — it is very difficult. We’re going into our highest volume seasons and every single one of our [major] emergency departments are holding admitted inpatients that can’t be admitted into the hospital because there’s no beds.”
Parks said he’s also seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases in hospital.
We’re reaping what the government sowed.– Dr. Paul Parks, Alberta Medical Association.
Patients with respiratory viruses end up in beds that are also needed by surgery patients or those needing cancer treatment, for example, which can lead to delays in other care, he noted.
Parks blames the provincial government for what he describes as a “failure” to promote public health and vaccination.
Immunization rates down
Immunization rates for influenza and COVID have been dropping in recent years, and the provincial government has been widely criticized by doctors and scientists for its decision to charge many Albertans for the COVID shot this year.
The fall immunization campaign was confusing for many people who struggled to get appointments early on.
And the province remains without a permanent chief medical officer of health who, in the past, would often speak publicly about communicable diseases and promote vaccination.
Provincial data shows 16.2 per cent of Albertans have had a flu shot, and 6.1 per cent have had a COVID-19 shot so far this season.
“We’re reaping what the government sowed,” said Parks.
CBC News reached out to the Ministry of Primary and Preventative Health Services and the Ministry of Hospital and Surgical Health Services for a response but did not hear back prior to publication time.
For its part, AHS said it is working to address the demand by enacting its over-capacity and surge plans.
“These plans include using dedicated surge and over-capacity beds on inpatient units, discharging appropriate patients early with enhanced home supports, augmenting staffing, managing surgery patients at home instead of in hospital bed as appropriate, and working … to return patients who no longer need specialized care to other health facilities when medically appropriate,” read a statement from AHS.
AHS also said it added 336 temporary beds during the 2024-25 respiratory virus season, including inpatient beds and emergency department spaces.
This year, 206 of those have been put into operation year-round. They are all in use. The remaining 130 are to be used temporarily during the respiratory virus season. All but seven of those have been opened.
“We continue to open spaces as staffing and resources allow,” AHS said.
Those at higher risk
Meanwhile, Thakore said it’s not too late to get the flu shot, and he’s urging people to stay home and away from vulnerable Albertans if they’re sick.
In addition to older Albertans, children under five are at higher risk of complications due to influenza.
Older kids, including teens with asthma, heart problems or immune deficiencies, can also end up very sick, said Thakore.
And he warned that while it’s rare, severe complications can occur from influenza, including severe brain inflammation, known as encephalitis.
