There is a warning from an Ontario nurses’ union that emergency room staffing crunches could become increasingly common in Toronto, after a nursing students and medical residents were brought in over the weekend to backstop the ER at Toronto Western Hospital.

Cathryn Hoy is the president of the Ontario Nurses Association.

She calls it “shocking” that a Toronto hospital had to call for backup to keep its ER open, especially given recent temporary closures have been concentrated in rural areas of Ontario.

This was a topic of discussion with the Zoomer Squad on Zoomer Radio’s Fight Back with Libby Znaimer.

Zoomer Magazine senior editor Peter Muggeridge told Guest Host Marissa Lennox this is a huge problem.

“I don’t blame nurses for leaving, working in the hospital system, it’s been a terrible burden these past few years. They’re burned out. They’re complaining about not receiving pay raises. It just seems like morale is broken there,” Muggeridge explained.

A statement from University Health Network says it was pressed with workforce shortages and had to support its ER with staff from different units, including personal support workers, nursing students and medical residents.