At the same time, health officials say they are more concerned than ever about the insufficient number of people getting vaccinated. Dr. Brian Wirzba, the president of the Alberta Medical Association and an internal medicine physician, is encouraging Albertans to get vaccinated for both influenza and COVID-19. He partnered with Dr. Louis Francescutti, an emergency room physician, to shine a light on this urgent health crisis. The picture is just as grim in Alberta. As of the week of October 5, the province has only reported 42 influenza cases and 16 for RSV, with 146 COVID-19 cases.
Adriana LaGrange, Alberta’s Primary and Preventative Health Minister, reassured the public that the province has “lots of practice” managing seasonal flu seasons. It’s no surprise that many healthcare professionals are concerned about the record high ER patient volumes. This focus on vaccinations is more important than ever.
Call for Vaccination
Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Brian Wirzba, urged Albertans to get vaccinated. He’s a big believer in normal hygiene practices, including handwashing and avoiding crowded places when you’re ill. He added that the health-care system can have a hard time managing the seasonal, yearly influx of cold and flu. This serious lack of capacity hampers its effectiveness.
“We’re just starting off at a higher level of burden within our emergency rooms and so anything extra becomes harder to tolerate, and that’s what has actually changed.” – Dr. Brian Wirzba
Dr. Louis Francescutti made a passionate case for vaccinations as a way to free up emergency rooms. He pointed out that increased vaccination rates could significantly improve the healthcare system’s ability to manage patient inflow during peak seasons.
“I spent two years at Johns Hopkins and they drilled in us that if you want to see how a health-care system is performing, just look at its immunization rates, and if they can’t get that simple thing in order, the rest of the system usually doesn’t work well, and that’s absolutely true.” – Dr. Louis Francescutti
Current Situation
Alberta’s climate is pretty scary right now. Physicians are faced with a deluge of patient demand all at once, yet vaccine adoption is not where it needs to be. As Dr. Wirzba reminded listeners, we are experiencing a worrisome phenomenon where the normal post-flu season recovery is absent. So, emergency rooms continue to be packed to the rafters all year long.
“We don’t actually see the recovery at the end of the traditional flu season and so we go through the remainder of the year — all summer, with emergency rooms still very full.” – Dr. Brian Wirzba
LaGrange said that Alberta Health Services is more than ready to face the challenges coming up. She mentioned that they are ramping up resources and staff to handle potential surges in hospitalizations due to respiratory viruses.
“I know that Alberta Health Services and our acute-care system always ramps up. They add additional staff. They make sure that they have surge capacity if, in fact, people land in hospital.” – Adriana LaGrange
