Latest news with #PatParfrey
CBC
28-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Health authority CEO says alternative care patient increase comes as no surprise
The number of patients waiting in hospital beds for an alternate level of care (ALC) in Newfoundland and Labrador has more than doubled in the last five months, and the CEO of the province's health authority says he is not surprised. "The fact is, the need for hospital beds is driven by people getting old and fragile," Pat Parfrey said in a recent meeting with reporters. "We have an aging population, and we've gone up by 25 per cent in the last decade of seniors, and we're going to go up by 25 per cent in the next decade." According to an access-to-information request filed by the Progressive Conservatives, which CBC News has reviewed, there are 327 people waiting in ALC beds as of May 2025. This includes seniors requiring long-term care. That's an increase of 181 people since December 2024. "That's a full hospital. That's not good enough," PC Leader Tony Wakeham told reporters on Thursday. Shortage an old issue But Parfrey questions the numbers. In central and western Newfoundland, a shortage of ALC beds is not a new issue. "We've had ALC levels of 30 and 40 per cent in central and western for years, and it's directly related to not having the places that frail elderly people can go into," he said. In St. John's, Parfrey said the number of ALC patients is less than 10 per cent at the Health Sciences Centre and less than 20 percent at St. Clare's Mercy Hospital. In the meantime, he said, the province's health-care facilities have maintained the same number of ALC beds for two decades. "It's not in the slightest bit surprising that we're running into problems," he said. The health authority is developing a plan to address the shortage of beds, which Parfrey said involves getting more acute care beds in St. John's. To do so, he said, NLHS must provide more beds for transitional care, which it currently provides at Chancellor Park in St. John's. "We would need to provide other places more beds for restorative care. We're going to open beds at the Miller Centre for restorative care and we need more long-term care facilities," Parfrey said. Gridlocked hospitals Health Minister Krista Lynn Howell told reporters on Thursday the province's hospitals get caught in a cycle when beds are not available. "We do realize that it's a cycle where the beds are not available in our acute care system because there are a number of people waiting to be placed in whatever appropriate venue," Howell said. Parfrey compared the cycle to a gridlock. "The ambulances come along and there's no place to put the patient, and you get offload delay, and that leads to inefficiencies. And because you don't have enough beds or they're occupied by people who need a different level of care, the emergency rooms are getting blocked up, and people are in corridors," he said. "You get gridlock." Parfrey said NLHS will offer the province a plan that outlines short, medium, and long-term approaches to solve the overcapacity problem within the next few weeks. When asked by CBC News if the plan should have been made previously, given the knowledge of the province's aging population, Parfrey said, "maybe that's true."
CBC
26-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Health authority confirms Waterford Hospital will close eventually, but timeline still uncertain
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services acknowledged on Monday that the Waterford Hospital will eventually shut. The building was constructed in 1855, and, until this year, had been the primary location of mental health services in Newfoundland and Labrador ever since. Thousands of patients have been in and out of the hospital during that time, and the facility leads a complex legacy — with many claiming the structure itself is in a state of disrepair. But on Monday, Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services CEO Pat Parfrey told reporters the building will close, although there's no set date for that just yet. The closure will happen once the hospital's remaining services find a new home. The psychiatric assessment unit moved to the new Mental Health and Addictions Centre at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's in April. But the Waterford Hospital still offers blood collection and houses offices. WATCH | Waterford Hospital will close once outpatient services find a new home: Waterford Hospital will close, but NLHS says no timeline as to when 24 minutes ago Duration 1:07 The new mental health and addictions centre in St. John's replaces the Waterford Hospital as the go-to place for mental health care. Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services CEO Pat Parfrey said that while some outpatient services still continue there, the building — first opened in 1855 — will close once a suitable home for community care is built. A plan is in the works to build a downtown health and wellbeing centre on the site of the former Grace Hospital, Parfrey said. That building — which is yet to be built — is expected to house outpatient services for psychiatry, a detox centre and will have "the capacity to be able to deal with issues that arise from addictions." The health authority is also looking into the idea of building an urgent care centre downtown, said Parfrey. In the meantime, NLHS is looking to lease a space for different community-based teams.
CBC
26-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Waterford Hospital will close, but NLHS says no timeline as to when
The new mental health and addictions centre in St. John's replaces the Waterford Hospital as the go-to place for mental health care. Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services CEO Pat Parfrey said that while some outpatient services still continue there, the building — first opened in 1855 — will close once a suitable home for community care is built.
CBC
12-02-2025
- Health
- CBC
NLHS could need $5M, more agency nurses to staff new beds in old hospital
Dr. Pat Parfrey, CEO of Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services, says it makes sense to house overflow patients from the new Western Memorial Regional Hospital in Corner Brook's old hospital. (Colleen Connors/CBC) The new head of Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services says the health authority will need more than $5 million to deal with the overflow of alternative care patients at the new Western Memorial Regional Hospital in Corner Brook, and will likely need to contract agency nurses to staff interim care beds at the city's old hospital. As first reported by CBC News on Monday, alternative care patients are taking up between 30 and 40 per cent of the new hospital's acute care beds. On Tuesday, NLHS CEO Dr. Pat Parfrey elaborated on plans to incorporate 45 new care beds into the old Corner Brook hospital, but said that staffing could require agency nurses. "It's a big problem, and we have a deficit of providers in this part of the province," Parfrey said. "Trying to fulfil those recruitment issues is a challenge for us." Teara Freake, NLHS COO and vice-president of the western zone, said the health authority is taking strides to address staffing needs in the Corner Brook area. "We have a current graduating class of 34 at the school of nursing and in other areas. We have 22 of those staff confirmed with another nine in progress, so we're hopeful to obtain a lot of those nurses," Freake said. WATCH | Health executives were in Corner Brook on Tuesday: N.L. Health Services hopes to bring new care beds to old Corner Brook hospital in next six months Duration 2:15 The health authority says turning the old hospital site in Corner Brook into a transitional care facility has been in the works for some time, and senior executives are now providing more details on Western Memorial Regional Hospital's overflow problem. CBC's Colleen Connors has the story. Seventeen practical nurses have also been recruited from the graduating class as of January, Freake said, and the health authority also expects around 10 international nurses to be ready for practice in the region each month from May to September. However, she also said agency nurses could be required. NLHS announced plans in May 2024, to cut the use of agency nurses to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels by 2026. Using old hospital beats waiting for new facility: Parfrey Two requests for proposals will be issued soon in hopes the 45 beds can be open for care in the next six months, Parfrey said. He couldn't share an exact cost, but said it would cost north of $5 million to cover renovations, equipment and staffing. The old Western Memorial Regional Hospital closed to patients in June, but will be renovated in the coming months to house 45 care beds across two floors. (Geoff Bartlett/CBC) Parfrey said 30 of those beds will initially be reserved for those waiting for space in a long-term care facility, but he hopes to shrink that number over time and transition the beds into more alternative care beds. "If you had to build [a facility], it would take five years. So it seems entirely logical that if you're in it nine months ago, it will have deteriorated a bit but you can renovate that. It seems entirely logical to use it for an interim purpose," he said. "We have a challenge to meet dealing with frailty in this region.… I strongly believe that we need to go along that track." Parfrey said he believes the model being brought to Corner Brook can work in other regions, pointing to the use of 20 care beds at the Chancellor Park care facility in St. John's. Forty-six per cent of the 50 patients admitted to those beds in the last six months were able to go home, he said, while just eight per cent had to be admitted into long-term care. The success of the program is prompting the purchase of another 20 beds in that facility. "[It's] not a medicalized model, its a mobility model. So that's the type of thought processes that are being extrapolated to western [Newfoundland]," Parfrey said. Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NLHS could need $5M, more agency nurses to staff new beds in old hospital
Dr. Pat Parfrey, CEO of Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services, says it makes sense to house overflow patients from the new Western Memorial Regional Hospital in Corner Brook's old hospital. (Colleen Connors/CBC) The new head of Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services says the health authority will need more than $5 million to deal with the overflow of alternative care patients at the new Western Memorial Regional Hospital in Corner Brook, and will likely need to contract agency nurses to staff interim care beds at the city's old hospital. As first reported by CBC News on Monday, alternative care patients are taking up between 30 and 40 per cent of the new hospital's acute care beds. On Tuesday, NLHS CEO Dr. Pat Parfrey elaborated on plans to incorporate 45 new care beds into the old Corner Brook hospital, but staffing that could require agency nurses. "It's a big problem, and we have a deficit of providers in this part of the province," Parfrey said. "Trying to fulfil those recruitment issues is a challenge for us." Teara Freake, NLHS COO and vice-president of the western zone, said the health authority is taking strides to address staffing needs in the Corner Brook area. "We have a current graduating class of 34 at the school of nursing and in other areas. We have 22 of those staff confirmed with another nine in progress, so we're hopeful to obtain a lot of those nurses," Freake said. Seventeen practical nurses have also been recruited from the graduating class as of January, Freake said, and the health authority also expects around 10 international nurses to be ready for practice in the region each month from May to September. However, she also said agency nurses could be required. NLHS announced plans in May 2024, to cut the use of agency nurses to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels by 2026. Using old hospital beats waiting for new facility: Parfrey Two requests for proposals will be issued soon in hopes the 45 beds can be open for care in the next six months, Parfrey said. He couldn't share an exact cost, but said it would cost north of $5 million to cover renovations, equipment and staffing. The old Western Memorial Regional Hospital closed to patients in June, but will be renovated in the coming months to house 45 care beds across two floors. (Geoff Bartlett/CBC) Parfrey said 30 of those beds will initially be reserved for those waiting for space in a long-term care facility, but he hopes to shrink that number over time and transition the beds into more alternative care beds. "If you had to build [a facility], it would take five years. So it seems entirely logical that if you're in it nine months ago, it will have deteriorated a bit but you can renovate that. It seems entirely logical to use it for an interim purpose," he said. "We have a challenge to meet dealing with frailty in this region.… I strongly believe that we need to go along that track." Parfrey said he believes the model being brought to Corner Brook can work in other regions, pointing to the use of 20 care beds at the Chancellor Park care facility in St. John's. Forty-six per cent of the 50 patients admitted to those beds in the last six months were able to go home, he said, while just eight per cent had to be admitted into long-term care. The success of the program is prompting the purchase of another 20 beds in that facility. "[It's] not a medicalized model, its a mobility model. So that's the type of thought processes that are being extrapolated to western [Newfoundland]," Parfrey said. Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.
