‘Shower in a bag’ for northern hospital patients

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This article was published 21/04/2022 (882 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A patient who’s been in the Thompson General Hospital since Dec. 28 says it has been without consistent hot water since he was admitted.

“How do you operate a facility like this?” asked the 57-year-old man waiting to be transferred to Winnipeg for a neurological assessment after injuring his back.

The Northern Health region says the problem can’t be fixed until it gets parts that have been delayed because of supply chain issues.

The patient, a longtime Thompson resident who asked not to be publicly identified, said he hasn’t showered or bathed since he was admitted more than three months ago.

“The staff will bring you some hot cloths in the morning when you wake up, so you can wipe yourself down and things like that. It’s sad.

“They have those chemical baths in a bag: ‘shower in a bag’, they call them,” he said. “It does your hair and everything and it comes in a bag.” He said some patients have been able to bathe but it required staff to haul jugs of hot water.

“You have your maintenance guys that are supposed to be doing other work, hauling hot water up and down the elevator in the big, blue five-gallon camping bottles,” the patient said.

He isn’t complaining about his treatment at the 79-bed acute care hospital. Northerners are used to having to make do, said the patient who hasn’t lost his patience.

Complaining about the lack of hot water won’t help the situation, he said.

“What are you going to do? Make it miserable for the staff, then everyone’s feeling miserable?”

The lack of consistent hot water in various parts of northern Manitoba’s main hospital hasn’t negatively impacted hospital operations, Northern Health region spokeswoman Twyla Storey said Thursday.

“The hospital has taken a number of steps as part of contingency plans regarding the (hospital) water issues.” Laundry, food preparation and cleaning on the affected unit haven’t been impacted, Storey said.

“We all agree this is an unacceptable situation and everyone is working to resolve it,” she said.

The Manitoba Nurses Union said its members at the Thompson hospital have reported that water temperature problems in the emergency room have prevented staff from washing their hands with soap and water because scalding water would come out of both taps.

In addition to water temperature issues, intermittent back-ups and blockages of drains in the ER have been an ongoing problem, a spokesperson for the nurses union said.

The hospital has no plumber and relies on maintenance staff to deal with the problem, the union said.

Northern Health is working to remedy the situation as quickly as possible but is at the mercy of the supply chain, said its spokeswoman.

“The last date promised for the required parts has come and gone,” Storey said. “We remain ready to move forward without delay with arrangements for installation (and) repairs once parts arrive.” She said she doesn’t think the hot water issue has been a problem for months.

“To our understanding, the inconsistency of hot water has been an issue since mid-March,” she said.

No Manitoba hospital should be in that situation, said NDP Leader Wab Kinew.

“If a hospital in Winnipeg was without hot water, there would be a major outcry and the situation would get addressed immediately,” he said. “I think folks in the north, folks in Thompson, should be able to expect the same,” the member for Fort Rouge said. “What we’re hearing are a lot of excuses but what we need is action.”

Health Minister Audrey Gordon had planned to take reporters’ questions Thursday, but ended up not being available.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca