As Alberta health-care workers share photos of exhaustion, hundreds of unvaccinated staff transition back to work

Some of Alberta's frontline hospital workers are posting images of exhaustion on social media while Alberta Health Services (AHS) says hundreds of unvaccinated workers will be back on the job to bolster the health-care system amid an Omicron surge.

As of Jan. 10, AHS is providing 1,400 eligible unvaccinated staff the option to take frequent COVID-19 testing and return to work, at the direction of the province.

AHS says about 500 staff have indicated they will return to work under the expanded testing options.

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) says that the program is reliant on rapid antigen tests which are taken by eligible staff on their own dime.

"We have filed a policy grievance against Alberta Health Services because we believe that this is their mandate, (AHS) should actually have to bear the costs of bringing it in and covering employees costs," said Bonnie Gostola vice president for AUPE and the chair of the occupational health and safety committee for the union.

"We've actually always advised our members that they should be vaccinated, but where they have the ability and the choice, it is their choice to make, and we will mitigate the outcome of those choices," she said before adding, "we will defend our members under our obligation, under collective agreements under labor law under legislation for occupational health and safety and human rights."

Gostola also notes that many health-care workers in the union including licensed practical nurses, general support staff and unit clerks among others, are very tired and facing burnout.

AHS officials confirmed to CTV News Friday that the AUPE claim of tests needing to be completed at home within 72 hours of the start of a shift was inaccurate. As per the AHS immunization policy, employees who are not fully immunized and elect to participate in the temporary frequent testing option are required to undergo a test at a private testing location no more than 48 hours prior to each shift. Self-administered tests are not an accepted option.

The highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 has many units and health-care settings experiencing staffing shortages due to illness, while others are working longer or extra shifts.

Under the hashtag #RunningOnEmpty a variety of frontline workers including physicians are sharing images of tired facial expressions and marks from long periods of wearing personal protective equipment.

Dr. Neeja Bakshi, an Edmonton-based internal medicine doctor and COVID unit staff started the hashtag with this tweet:

"Calling all essential workers. Show us what it looks like to be #RunningOnEmpty. Our leaders cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the truth. I'll start. Post COVID Unit Shift this weekend. RT and share"

Calling all essential workers. Show us what it looks like to be #RunningOnEmpty

Our leaders cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the truth.

I'll start.
Post COVID Unit Shift this weekend.

RT and share. pic.twitter.com/qe1mS6jTw1

— Neeja Bakshi (@NeejaB) January 18, 2022

"I see it in my nursing and in my physician colleagues who would have ever imagined we'd be 22 months into a pandemic with five waves and just lots of uncertainty and weariness and emotion with no reprieve, no real ability to take a break and recharge," said Dr. Eddy Lang, the department head of emergency medicine at the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary.

FATIGUE ONE COMPONENT OF LARGER DYSFUNCTION

Dr. Lang says the fatigue is one component of a larger issue of dysfunction in the healthcare system in this wave of the pandemic.

He says all patients, regardless of COVID-status, are being treated in the emergency departments, or ambulances are unable to offload patients for longer than ideal periods.

"They've been evaluated and diagnosed, we know they need to come into hospital and they need to go upstairs (to be admitted), but they don't have a bed upstairs to go to. The reason for that is because a lot of the wards are experiencing staffing shortages."

Dr. Lang says over the past few days he has observed more staff reporting well enough to come to work, but says emergency rooms are still in the thick of it.

AHS says addressing staffing shortages and recruiting is a constant priority across the system all year round.

More than 97 per cent of AHS full-time and part-time employees and 99.8 per cent of physicians having at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.