Latest news with #staffingshortage
CNN
27-05-2025
- General
- CNN
5 things to know for May 27: Russia-Ukraine, Israel, Liverpool crash, National Security Council, Mass shootings
The manhunt continues for the last two of 10 inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail earlier this month. Authorities are also searching for a former police chief serving time for rape and murder who fled from an Arkansas prison on Sunday. What prompted these prison breaks? CNN's Zoe Sottile discovered several factors, including staffing shortages, aging facilities and 'nothing to lose.' Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Get '5 Things' in your inbox If your day doesn't start until you're up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to your new favorite morning fix. Sign up here for the '5 Things' newsletter. Russia launched overnight attacks on Ukraine on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, killing at least 29 people — including children— and wounding dozens more. The Kremlin's intensified aerial bombardment came as international pressure mounted on Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a ceasefire proposal. Even President Donald Trump took issue with Putin's recent actions. 'I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!' Trump posted on Truth Social. On Monday, the Kremlin downplayed Trump's remarks, categorizing them as 'emotional reactions.' Also on Monday, Germany and other Ukrainian allies lifted restrictions on Kyiv firing long-range missiles into Russia following the massive aerial attacks, a move the Kremlin slammed as a 'dangerous' decision. A rally over the weekend in Tel Aviv's Hostage Square demanding the return of captives from Hamas included a special speaker: an Israel Defense Forces soldier who was freed during a ceasefire hostage deal in January. On Sunday, Na'ama Levy said one of her biggest fears in captivity involved the Israeli airstrikes. 'They (strikes) come unexpectedly. At first you hear the whistles, you pray that it won't fall on us, and then — the explosions, a noise so loud that it paralyzes the body, and the ground shakes,' Levy told a crowd of thousands. 'Every time, I was sure that this was the end of me. It was one of the scariest things I experienced there and that's also what endangered me more than anything.' Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that defeating Israel's enemies was the 'supreme objective,' more important than securing the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. His comments drew backlash from representatives of hostage families. A 53-year-old British man was arrested on Monday after he allegedly drove into a crowd of fans attending the Liverpool Football Club's Premier League victory parade. Dozens of people, including four children, were injured in the incident. The event was just winding down when a gray minivan plowed into the soccer team's supporters, video from social media appeared to show. The angry crowd then surrounded and attacked the vehicle. Four people — three adults and one child — had to be removed from underneath the vehicle, according to officials. Police said they were not looking for any other suspects and were not treating the incident as terrorism. The crash 'has cast a very dark shadow over what had been a joyous day,' Liverpool city council leader Liam Robinson said in a post on X. The Trump administration has placed more than 100 officials at the National Security Council on administrative leave. The NSC is staffed by experts from across the government who help to coordinate the president's foreign policy agenda. Late Friday, the affected staffers received an email titled 'Your return to home agency.' The email stated they were dismissed and had 30 minutes to clean out their desks. Those put on leave included career officials as well as political hires made during the Trump administration. The move was reportedly part of a restructuring under interim national security adviser and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The terrible toll from mass shootings in America continues to climb. At least 10 people were shot in Little River, South Carolina, on Sunday after a holiday weekend gathering turned violent. Police released few details about the incident, including what prompted the gunfire, but did say that some of the injured were in critical condition. Detectives are still trying to determine who was responsible. Then on Monday night, two people were killed and nine others injured in a mass shooting in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, authorities said. The names of the victims have not been released, but Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said an adult man and an adult woman had died. According to the Gun Violence Archive, as of May 27, there have been 122 mass shootings in the US this year. Team USA takes gold in SwedenFor the first time since 1933, the US men's hockey team triumphed at the IIHF World Championship tournament. During the trophy presentation, Team USA held up the jersey of Johnny Gaudreau, the former USA and NHL player who died last year, along with his brother, after they were fatally struck by a suspected drunken driver. Billie Eilish triumphs at AMAsAlthough she didn't attend the American Music Awards ceremony in Las Vegas, Eilish won all seven awards she was nominated for, including artist of the year, album of the year and song of the year. And the Palme d'Or goes to …Iranian director, screenwriter and producer Jafar Panahi, who had previously been imprisoned by the Iranian government, received the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his new movie. 'Trayvon Martin of the 1930s in Atlanta' honoredImam Plemon El-Amin recently took the stage at Morehouse College to accept his late uncle's honorary bachelor's degree in religion. El-Amin's uncle, Dennis Hubert, was an 18-year-old Black divinity student in 1930 when a mob of seven White men lynched him on the playground of an Atlanta school. Lorde of the danceFans attending a Lorde-themed club night in Sydney, Australia, were shocked and thrilled when the Grammy-winning singer showed up. Trailblazing New York congressman Charles Rangel dies at 94A civil rights activist and war hero, Rangel became one of the most influential Black politicians in modern history. The Democrat was elected to Congress in 1970 and would eventually serve 23 terms. He also co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus and became the first Black member and later chairman of the influential House Ways and Means Committee. 114 billionThat's about how many pennies are currently in circulation in the US. Although the Treasury Department recently announced plans to stop production of the one-cent coin, the penny will remain legal tender. 'As you navigate the world of bright possibilities that awaits you, I urge you to take on the challenge and the opportunity to serve your fellow citizens. Fifty years from now, you will want to be able to look in the mirror and know that you did what you thought was right, in every part of your life. At the end of the day, your integrity is all you have. Guard it carefully.' — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in a speech at a pre-graduation ceremony at Princeton University amid months of unrelenting personal attacks from President Trump. Check your local forecast here>>> Teens save family from fire Two New York teens were on their way home from the junior prom when they spotted a large garage fire. They immediately began banging on the front door to warn the family inside.
CNN
27-05-2025
- General
- CNN
5 things to know for May 27: Russia-Ukraine, Israel, Liverpool crash, National Security Council, Mass shootings
The manhunt continues for the last two of 10 inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail earlier this month. Authorities are also searching for a former police chief serving time for rape and murder who fled from an Arkansas prison on Sunday. What prompted these prison breaks? CNN's Zoe Sottile discovered several factors, including staffing shortages, aging facilities and 'nothing to lose.' Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Get '5 Things' in your inbox If your day doesn't start until you're up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to your new favorite morning fix. Sign up here for the '5 Things' newsletter. Russia launched overnight attacks on Ukraine on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, killing at least 29 people — including children— and wounding dozens more. The Kremlin's intensified aerial bombardment came as international pressure mounted on Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a ceasefire proposal. Even President Donald Trump took issue with Putin's recent actions. 'I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!' Trump posted on Truth Social. On Monday, the Kremlin downplayed Trump's remarks, categorizing them as 'emotional reactions.' Also on Monday, Germany and other Ukrainian allies lifted restrictions on Kyiv firing long-range missiles into Russia following the massive aerial attacks, a move the Kremlin slammed as a 'dangerous' decision. A rally over the weekend in Tel Aviv's Hostage Square demanding the return of captives from Hamas included a special speaker: an Israel Defense Forces soldier who was freed during a ceasefire hostage deal in January. On Sunday, Na'ama Levy said one of her biggest fears in captivity involved the Israeli airstrikes. 'They (strikes) come unexpectedly. At first you hear the whistles, you pray that it won't fall on us, and then — the explosions, a noise so loud that it paralyzes the body, and the ground shakes,' Levy told a crowd of thousands. 'Every time, I was sure that this was the end of me. It was one of the scariest things I experienced there and that's also what endangered me more than anything.' Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that defeating Israel's enemies was the 'supreme objective,' more important than securing the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. His comments drew backlash from representatives of hostage families. A 53-year-old British man was arrested on Monday after he allegedly drove into a crowd of fans attending the Liverpool Football Club's Premier League victory parade. Dozens of people, including four children, were injured in the incident. The event was just winding down when a gray minivan plowed into the soccer team's supporters, video from social media appeared to show. The angry crowd then surrounded and attacked the vehicle. Four people — three adults and one child — had to be removed from underneath the vehicle, according to officials. Police said they were not looking for any other suspects and were not treating the incident as terrorism. The crash 'has cast a very dark shadow over what had been a joyous day,' Liverpool city council leader Liam Robinson said in a post on X. The Trump administration has placed more than 100 officials at the National Security Council on administrative leave. The NSC is staffed by experts from across the government who help to coordinate the president's foreign policy agenda. Late Friday, the affected staffers received an email titled 'Your return to home agency.' The email stated they were dismissed and had 30 minutes to clean out their desks. Those put on leave included career officials as well as political hires made during the Trump administration. The move was reportedly part of a restructuring under interim national security adviser and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The terrible toll from mass shootings in America continues to climb. At least 10 people were shot in Little River, South Carolina, on Sunday after a holiday weekend gathering turned violent. Police released few details about the incident, including what prompted the gunfire, but did say that some of the injured were in critical condition. Detectives are still trying to determine who was responsible. Then on Monday night, two people were killed and nine others injured in a mass shooting in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, authorities said. The names of the victims have not been released, but Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said an adult man and an adult woman had died. According to the Gun Violence Archive, as of May 27, there have been 122 mass shootings in the US this year. Team USA takes gold in SwedenFor the first time since 1933, the US men's hockey team triumphed at the IIHF World Championship tournament. During the trophy presentation, Team USA held up the jersey of Johnny Gaudreau, the former USA and NHL player who died last year, along with his brother, after they were fatally struck by a suspected drunken driver. Billie Eilish triumphs at AMAsAlthough she didn't attend the American Music Awards ceremony in Las Vegas, Eilish won all seven awards she was nominated for, including artist of the year, album of the year and song of the year. And the Palme d'Or goes to …Iranian director, screenwriter and producer Jafar Panahi, who had previously been imprisoned by the Iranian government, received the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his new movie. 'Trayvon Martin of the 1930s in Atlanta' honoredImam Plemon El-Amin recently took the stage at Morehouse College to accept his late uncle's honorary bachelor's degree in religion. El-Amin's uncle, Dennis Hubert, was an 18-year-old Black divinity student in 1930 when a mob of seven White men lynched him on the playground of an Atlanta school. Lorde of the danceFans attending a Lorde-themed club night in Sydney, Australia, were shocked and thrilled when the Grammy-winning singer showed up. Trailblazing New York congressman Charles Rangel dies at 94A civil rights activist and war hero, Rangel became one of the most influential Black politicians in modern history. The Democrat was elected to Congress in 1970 and would eventually serve 23 terms. He also co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus and became the first Black member and later chairman of the influential House Ways and Means Committee. 114 billionThat's about how many pennies are currently in circulation in the US. Although the Treasury Department recently announced plans to stop production of the one-cent coin, the penny will remain legal tender. 'As you navigate the world of bright possibilities that awaits you, I urge you to take on the challenge and the opportunity to serve your fellow citizens. Fifty years from now, you will want to be able to look in the mirror and know that you did what you thought was right, in every part of your life. At the end of the day, your integrity is all you have. Guard it carefully.' — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in a speech at a pre-graduation ceremony at Princeton University amid months of unrelenting personal attacks from President Trump. Check your local forecast here>>> Teens save family from fire Two New York teens were on their way home from the junior prom when they spotted a large garage fire. They immediately began banging on the front door to warn the family inside.
CBC
24-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Pediatric unit at Kelowna hospital to close for at least 6 weeks amid doctor shortage
An emergency department physician is sounding the alarm about staffing shortages within Interior Health following the announcement of an extended closure of the pediatric unit at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH). In a statement, Interior Health says the service disruption to the KGH's 10-bed inpatient general pediatrics unit will start Monday and last at least six weeks as pediatricians will be moved to the neonatal intensive care unit and high-risk deliveries. The health authority says it is making the temporary changes to pediatric care at the hospital to address scheduling gaps due to limited physician availability. Dr. Jeff Eppler, an emergency department physician at KGH, said parents shouldn't hesitate to bring their sick child to the emergency department to get the care they need. "I think the contingency will be if the sick child comes in ... if they need to be admitted then they are going to be staying in [the] emergency department," he said. Eppler said there had been some planning for disruptions in pediatric services, "but we were never prepared to become what is essentially a de facto pediatric ward." Dr. Hussam Azzam, Interior Health's executive medical director in community and maternity care, said that staff can make arrangements to have a young patient transferred to another hospital, hopefully within the Interior Health region. Eppler is critical of how the news was communicated to staff, saying they found out about the service interruption through a press release less than a week before the closure. Azzam said there have been shorter periods of interrupted coverage in KGH's pediatric department over the last few months due to "a chronic shortage of pediatricians" at the hospital who can look after inpatients. Eppler said he and other hospital staff knew there were going to be some disruptions to pediatric services that could last a day or even a few days, but they had no idea that a closure would last for more than a month. "I suspect this situation has been brewing for a lot longer and we should have been notified much sooner so we could do better planning," Eppler said. "This affects our department greatly because we're already often short nurses." Interior Health said the interruption in service only affects children who need to be admitted to the general pediatric unit. All critical care services for children — including the emergency department and neonatal intensive care unit — are open. Recruiting pediatricians challenging, says health minister B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne said the decision to shutter the pediatric unit for at least six weeks was a difficult one, noting that recruiting staff amid a global shortage of health-care workers is a challenge. "Pediatricians generally has been a specialty that's been more difficult to recruit to and Kelowna is not alone in experiencing these kinds of shortages," Osborne said. Azzam said they are constantly working to improve recruitment efforts. "We are hoping that there is at least one pediatrician [who] will be joining us in in the summer, so that will hopefully alleviate the pressure," he said. Eppler said it's important to emphasize that he and his emergency department colleagues will continue to provide patients with the care they need.
CBC
21-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Lethbridge doctors worry about patient safety as ER staffing shortage drags on
Emergency room doctors in Lethbridge are warning that ongoing staffing shortages could make growing wait times even longer. An open letter signed by 16 physician s says the Chinook Regional Hospital has struggled to recruit emergency department physicians and wait times are ballooning as a result. This isn't the first time the public has been alerted about the issue. Last summer, Alberta Health Services issued a notice about the shortage and warned people to expect longer wait times at the southern Alberta facility. "We feel a little bit like we're hanging on by the skin of our teeth some days," Dr. Sean Wilde, an ER doctor who signed the letter, said in an interview with CBC News. "We just want people to be aware that this is a problem that has not yet been solved." According to Wilde, the ER needs at least seven physicians working during a 24 hour period. They're often down to six and are facing periods over the summer where they could be running their ER with only five physicians, he said. "If you look back a few years it was fairly uncommon to have to wait more than four hours in our department to be seen. But there's quite a few days now where we're seeing waits get to six, seven, eight — even nine hours — to be seen," said Wilde. The doctors caution those waits will likely get longer in the coming months. "There are cases we're aware of where people probably did a lot worst than they would have if we'd seen them earlier. We're pretty sure that's the case. The waits have definitely contributed to patient harm in the last year." The sickest patients — including those suffering from a heart attack or stroke — will still be seen right away, said Wilde. But people with problems such as appendicitis, intestinal blockages or those developing a serious infection may end up waiting longer. "They're often not that sick when they first get here but over the time they're going to get worse. And those are the ones we worry about the most," said Wilde. According to Wilde the hospital has lost physicians to retirement and others have left to work in other provinces over the last few years. At the same time, he said, it's been increasingly difficult to recruit new physicians. "This is part of a larger, nationwide shortage of doctors and a decline in the number of physicians choosing to practice in Alberta. This decline is related to ongoing political instability and the steady loss of the previous Alberta financial advantage," the letter states. According to Wilde, the Lethbridge ER has grown dependent on locum physicians who fill in on a temporary basis. "Many [doctors] are choosing to go to larger cities which are now recruiting more aggressively than they did in the past," said Wilde. Some physicians who remain are reducing their hours because of burnout, he added. AHS working to recruit seven doctors In a written statement, Alberta Health Services said it recognizes many physicians are facing pressures in the delivery of health services. According to AHS, Chinook Regional Hospital has 17 emergency medicine physicians and it is working to recruit seven more. "Two new physicians were hired in 2024, and three additional candidates have recently been interviewed and are in the midst of the recruitment process," a spokesperson said in an email. "Despite these ongoing efforts and locum coverage, the emergency department continues to experience shortages." According to AHS, patients at the hospital continue to be prioritized for care based on the severity of their medical condition. "However, those with less acute issues may experience longer-than-usual wait times, despite the hospital traditionally having some of the shortest wait times in Alberta," the email said. "AHS remains committed to supporting recruitment and retention efforts — including in Lethbridge — to ensure patients and families have access to high-quality care." Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare, said there are similar concerns across the province. "Emergency room closures are already happening more and more as we head in to the summer," he said pointing to recent closures in communities such as Fort MacLeod. Gallaway is calling for a health care workforce plan to address Alberta's ongoing recruitment issues. "We need a plan that actually maps out who we have, looks at retention, looks at recruitment, connects it to training and actually provides the health care Albertans need," he said. "We haven't seen that kind of approach. And we're seeing that play out in Lethbridge where they're struggling to recruit and keep their facility fully operating." Last year the province said it was working to update a 2023 work force strategy, in response to similar calls from the Alberta Medical Association. Meanwhile, an official with the new Ministry of Hospital and Surgical Health Services said in an email that the overall number of physicians registered in Alberta increased by 4.2 per cent in the first three months of 2025 over the same period last year. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta's latest quarterly report shows the number of fully registered physicians (including those fully certified and those approved to work conditionally who may be waiting for paperwork or work experience) increased by 491 — to 12,123 from 11,632 — during the referenced time period. However, that total dropped by 89 physicians in the first three months of this year compared to the final quarter of 2024 when 12,212 were registered.
CTV News
16-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Staff shortages force another Thessalon ER closure
For the third time in under a month, Thessalon's emergency department will close temporarily due to staffing shortages, shutting from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday, with patients redirected to nearby hospitals.
