Staff shortages continue to be a major challenge at Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare.
At a board meeting Wednesday, president and CEO Bill Marra gave the latest update stating staffing was tight before COVID-19, but the pandemic has amplified the issue.
Marra says finding a solution is top priority as nearly 100 employees are currently impacted by COVID with 26 off the job after testing positive for the virus.
He says the pandemic has only helped to highlight the problem.
"The broader issue continues to be HHR, health and human resources. It continues to be a challenge for our team, for after hours on call personnel, not created by the pandemic, but exacerbated by the pandemic. The pandemic has really exposed what was a trending challenge with staffing."
Marra says, often times, dozens of shifts need to be filled.
"There are times that we're going into weekends with two, three or four dozen shifts that have to be filled. Our team does a remarkable job addressing that. Our frontline staff have been incredibly accommodating. When they come to work, sometimes they don't know where they're going to work."
He says changes need to be made.
"In some circles, it has become a crisis and we need to prepare ourselves to make different decisions and a different approach because it's simply not sustainable. The concern, of course, right now is the impact on staff and the burnout that it's having on them."
Marra says a report with possible solutions will be presented to the board in the near future.
There are currently four COVID-19 outbreaks at the hospital with 18 patients testing positive.