Covid-19: Ontario hospitals close wards as nursing shortage bites

At least 14 hospitals in Canada’s most populous province are operating without key services this weekend as exhausted and depleted nursing staff struggle to cope with a surge in patients with covid-19.The closures include the intensive care unit at Bowmanville’s hospital and emergency departments at Wingham and Listowel. Hospitals in Alexandria, Brampton, Clinton, and Perth have also shut their emergency departments at times in recent weeks.“This decision was not made lightly,” a spokeswoman for the Bowmanville hospital told CTV News, explaining that intensive care patients would be transferred to Ajax Pickering and Oshawa hospitals. “We recognise the impact of this temporary relocation on patients and their families.”Toronto’s University Health Network revealed this week that the emergency department of Toronto Western Hospital was so understaffed last weekend that nursing students were called in.The network, which also runs the city’s largest hospital, Toronto General, has put out an “urgent” call for overtime…
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