Staff at the Ministry of Health and Fraser Health Authority say that proposed emergency room expansions do not include an upgrade to Mission Memorial or Abbotsford Regional Hospital's ER,.
Staff say Lake was given incorrect information prior to Wednesday's interview and that the ARH ER is not, in fact, among those that would be expanded if business plans in front of the Ministry of Health are approved.
A transcription error on the part of The Abbotsford News reporter also led to an error in the reporting of a business plan for an expansion of the Mission Memorial Hospital emergency department being underway. In fact, Langley Memorial Hospital's emergency department may be expanded. The Abbotsford News apologies for the error.
The Ministry issued the following statement Friday:
"Regrettably, the Minister of Health was provided information that didn't accurately reflect emergency department plans at the Abbotsford hospital and inadvertently was provided to your news outlet.
"Fraser Health recently announced plans to create a new mental health and substance use area in the Emergency Department at Abbotsford Hospital and the health authority is also planning a new residential care facility to help transition care to the community. While these plans will help provide better care for patients, there are no specific plans to expand the emergency department at Abbotsford Hospital. Ministry of Health is, however, reviewing several plans for Emergency Department expansions in Fraser Health including Eagle Ridge Hospital, Langley Memorial Hospital and Peace Arch Hospital.
"We apologize for any confusion this may have caused."
In the interview, Lake had told Black Press an expansion to the ER would "help in terms of congestion issues."
The original story appears below.
The province is reviewing plans for expansions to the Abbotsford Regional Hospital, Mission Memorial Hospital and Peace Arch Hospital emergency rooms, Health Minister Terry Lake told Black Press on Wednesday.
According to Lake, business plans to expand the emergency departments are currently before the province’s Ministry of Finance.
“That will help in terms of congestion issues,” he said.
No announcements have been made yet, and Lake did not comment on the scale of those expansions.
“We hope to have more to say on that in the next couple of months.”
The emergency department in Abbotsford came under scrutiny over the last month following the deaths of two people who had recently been sent home.
Those deaths – of three-year-old Nimrat Gill and 56-year-old Mary Louise Murphy – have not been directly linked to congestion issues. Gill’s death is the subject of a formal review, while Fraser Health has said it will take another look at Murphy’s medical records.
But the incidents have shone a light on persistent congestion issues that have plagued ARH and many other Fraser Health hospitals for years. ARH and most other Fraser Health hospitals continue to fall short of targets of admitting ER patients within 10 hours. Emergency room experts also say there is evidence congestion is linked to poorer outcomes for patients.
“We know that this year has been challenging at several locations, including Surrey and Abbotsford,” Lake said. He said some steps taken by Fraser Health in recent months have proven effective at some sites, but less so in others, including Abbotsford.
Lake said Fraser Health brought in more “community care and diagnostic” staff last weekend to help new patients and transfer others out of hospital to free up space.
He said some patients had been transferred to Langley Memorial Hospital, and 15 “flex beds” were opened up in Abbotsford and another five in Mission to ease congestion.
Fraser Health has been trying to reduce congestion for years, with the province and the health authority setting up a “congestion review panel” five years ago to address the issue.
Two years later, a strategic plan suggested a need to push resources towards community and residential care in order to free up hospital spaces.
Still, the problems remain. But Lake said he is hopeful that new and ongoing initiatives will turn the tide.
“Emergency room congestion has been an issue ever since I have been aware of health care,” he said. “It goes back a long way. That’s not an excuse and that’s not to say we can’t do better. But some of the strategies take some time to see the effect through the system.
“We have to take all different parts of the system and that can take a while to have an impact on the ground, but that doesn’t mean you don’t work diligently at it.”