'We've had patients die waiting for a bed': Vancouver Island doctors frustrated with the unvaccinated
An emergency room doctor in Victoria says patients who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 are causing unnecessary delays and even deaths in the health-care system.
"We’ve had patients die on hold waiting for 911. We've had patients die waiting for a bed," Dr. Michelle Tousignant said Wednesday. "I don’t know what a rock bottom is if we're not there already."
The vast majority of COVID-19 patients in intensive care are unvaccinated. With the Delta variant spreading, Dr. David Forrest, who works in the intensive care unit at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, worries we're far from rock bottom.
“I’m extremely worried to be perfectly honest,” said Forrest, speaking from the hospital’s ICU Wednesday. “I think that there is a significant likelihood that we’re going to continue to see a rise in cases in the hospital.”
Tousignant has been on medical leave for a few months because of a concussion. She hopes to return to work soon, but in the meantime, she's taken to social media to educate people about the safety of vaccines as well as their effectiveness.
She says it’s important some of the misinformation online is counteracted by accurate information, and recognizes that the internet has become a major source of information for many people.
A Facebook post she made last week advocating for the importance of vaccines and setting out the impact on the health-care system has been seen by more than 50,000 people.
Both she and Forrest say the recent anti-vaccine protests outside hospitals across B.C., including in Nanaimo, were very demoralizing for health-care workers.
“I’m frustrated. I’m angry about it frankly,” said Forrest.
Tousignant says that kind of backlash towards health-care workers is adding to the immense stress they’re already under during the pandemic.
“One of the reasons that we have the staff shortages that we have is the degree of burnout, the degree of stress.”
Their frustration comes a day after the province announced that more surgeries are being delayed because the system is overloaded and that it’s moving patients from Northern Health to the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island because ICUs up there are full.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.
1 killed, 3 injured including toddler, after Hwy. 417 crash in Ottawa
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.