High Bed Occupancy Rate at Edmundston Regional Hospital

Edmundston, January 21, 2015 – For the past few weeks, the Edmundston Regional Hospital has been coping with very high bed occupancy rates and a significant increase in the number of Emergency visits.

“Our staff members and physicians have been working hard to continue providing high-quality and safe health care services,” said Gisèle Beaulieu, Chief Operating Officer for the Northwest Zone.  “We are analyzing the situation on a day-to-day basis, the objective being to better respond to our population’s needs,” she explained.

“The number of elderly patients awaiting placement in a care home or special care home puts ongoing pressure on the availability of hospital beds.  This situation poses a major challenge in managing our resources and providing services for patients requiring short-term care.  I congratulate our staff members who work daily to mitigate the effects of high bed occupancy rates.  In this regard, we seek the public’s cooperation in reducing the demand on our emergency department where their condition can be treated through alternate means,” Ms. Beaulieu added.

The Edmundston Regional Hospital administration is asking the members of the public whose condition does not require urgent care to make an appointment with their family physician, to visit a walk-in clinic, or to call Tele-Care instead of reporting to the Emergency Department. If an Emergency visit is still deemed necessary, the public is informed to expect longer than usual wait times for non-critical situations.