Bed cuts and superbugs: 180 beds cut in St. Catharines

The total number of Niagara hospital beds (excluding West Lincoln hospital) was 1,315 in 1995-96 (this includes 149 at the former Hotel Dieu general hospital and 124 at the Shaver which became the Dieu).

Facility	Acute		Psychiatry		Rehabilitation		Chronic
	1995/96	1997/98	1995/96	1997/98	1995/96	1997/98	1995/96	1997/98
Niagara-on-the-Lake	18	9	-	-	-	-	20	11
Douglas Memorial	50	39	-	-	-	-	25	25
Port Colborne General	50	36	-	-	-	-	30	24
Shaver	-	-	-	-	22	22	102	102
West Lincoln Memorial	62	45	-	-	-	-	16	16
Welland County General	159	141	16	16	-	-	139	77
Greater Niagara General	173	173	29	29	-	-	48	48
Hôtel Dieu	149	119			-	-	-	-
St. Catharines General	223	201	26	26	-	-	36	36
Total	884	763	71	71	22	22	416	339

Now, there are only 926 beds: 787 at Niagara Health Services (including addiction services but excluding NHS long term care beds) and 139 at the Hotel Dieu Shaver.

So there has been a loss of 389 beds (1,315-926). Put another way, there were 42% more beds in 1995-96.

The St. Catharines General site of the Niagara Health System says it has “more than 200 Acute Care and Mental Health beds”. That would be a reduction of from 398 acute and mental health beds in St. Catharines in 1995-96 (at the now closed Hotel Dieu site as well as the General). Assuming 220 beds at the General now, means St. Catharines has approximately 180 fewer beds now or, put another way, they had 82% more beds in 1995-96.

These figures are not particularly unusual for Ontario. Certainly the high level of bed occupancy that has gone with these sorts of cuts is not unusual.

But given the connection between high bed occupancy and superbug infection, I do find it unsettling that there is so little official concern about them. We are even beginning to hear these outbreaks called the "new normal".

Well, if you accept the bed cuts and the housekeeping cuts as normal, perhaps this is the new normal.

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