Hospital protests 'demoralizing,' say eastern Ontario health-care workers

Eastern Ontario health-care workers are speaking up aboutdemoralizing work conditions following a wave of protests against COVID-19 vaccines and mandatory vaccination policies including one last week outside The Ottawa Hospital's Civic campus.

Protestors clustered outside the Carling Avenue entrance to the hospital's emergency departmenton Sept. 1, butunlike elsewhere in the country, neither police nor the hospital reported anyharassment or obstruction ofemergency services.

Most other hospitals across the region were untouched by protests, althougha spokesperson for the Kingston General Hospital said a similar demonstration isplanned to go ahead there on Tuesday.

Even so, health-care workers like Leslie-Anne McDonald said the protests have an "enormous" impact, both on caregivers and patients.

"You question your profession and if you should be in it," said McDonald, a nurse at the cardiac rehabilitation program in Cornwall, Ont. "I have, anyway, for the first time."

Anti-mandatory vaccine protests have been staged across the country in recent weeks, including one near Queen's Park in Toronto.

But the most recent protests outside hospitalshave prompted condemnations from medical associations.

"I've heard from many of my colleagues, and I think the best word to use is devastated," said Dr. Katherine Smart, president of the Canadian Medical Association.

"They're not the policy or decision makers on some of these issues ... They're just working around the clock trying to save peoples' lives."

Workerburnout predates protests, pandemic

Emergency room volumes in eastern Ontario are higher than would be expected for this time of year, said Alan Drummond, anemergency and family physician in Perth, Ont.

Drummond, who is also chair of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, said staffingshortages that predate the pandemic have made it difficult for workers to cope with the increased patient volume.

The Gatineau Hospital emergency room, for example,closed in late June due to a nursing shortage.

Protest against mandatory vaccination demoralizing for health-care staff, advocate says

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Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, says the protest against COVID-19 measures that took place outside The Ottawa Hospitals Civic campus was frustrating for exhausted health-care professionals.

Workers are also experiencing increasedverbal and physical abuseon the job, Drummond said, withmanyreevaluatingtheir careers.

"We're probably at a tipping point, which is why these protests aren't exactly welcome," he said. "It's just disheartening and demoralizing, frankly, to see these protests going on."

Past the tipping point

Staff shortages and burnout are problems outside the region as well, said Ivy Bourgeault, a professor at the University of Ottawa anddirector of the Canadian Health Workforce Network.

"The first, second, third, and fourth waves now have had a cumulative impact on the exhaustion of health workers, who already had endemic levels of burnout prior to the pandemic," said Bourgeault.

"Things were awful, and got atrocious."

In the past, she said,Ontario would recruit from other provinces or countries. But withCOVID-19 taxing health-care systems around the world,that could soon cease to be aviable option.

"There is a huge societal concern, amonga variety of different decision makers, that we are going to have a shortage like we have never seen before," she said.

Drummondsaid ER nurses require years of training and work experience, and his hospitalisalready hurt by departures.

"Nurses are voting with their feet," he said "And they're not willing to put up with these conditions any longer."