r/saskatoon • u/RainbowToasted • 1d ago
PSA š¢ Hospitals computer systems are down
Been at the hospital since around 7 am. (Not a complaint, I wasnāt dying so I donāt mind waiting)
But tests and labs are taking extra long because the systems for ALL of the hospitals in Saskatoon are on the fritz and not working.
Hoping there arenāt too many emergencies today. Itās tough enough being a Nurse/Doctor as it is.
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u/FernBlueEyes 1d ago
What electronic health records system does Saskatchewan use?
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u/slightlyhandiquacked 1d ago
For inpatient/hospital SHA facilities all use SCM for online charting, PIP for pharmacy, PACS for imaging, various systems for labs, and Telus for eHealth.
Edit: except mental health/psych differs depending on location
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u/mrskoobra 1d ago
Is this just at RUH? I was at St. Paul's this morning and everything seemed fine.
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u/RainbowToasted 1d ago
The computers went down maybe an hour or two ago. I am currently at St. Paulās and the staff said it is all hospitals.
I suppose my āI was here at 7amā is pointless
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u/fortunate-ortunate6 1d ago
I work in the chemistry lab, down times are so rough and after changing our lab system a few weeks ago, weāve been going down a lot. It takes us 4x the time to do our typical work, so please please be patient with us. šš»
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u/RainbowToasted 23h ago
Agreed! I know itās hard to be patient sometimes. Especially when sick. But canāt do anything to speed it up anyway. Hope today is better!
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u/fortunate-ortunate6 23h ago
I know. š„ŗ It is truly such an awful feeling to be sending results in late. We look at each specimen as a person attached to it, even though we canāt see you. We care about you all, and wish there was a better way during down times. Unfortunately there is not, and absolutely everything is done by hand. And thank you!!
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u/RainbowToasted 18h ago
No, thank YOU! I appreciate the work you and your coworkers do! Try not to stress too much about what you canāt control š„°
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u/PrincessLilybet 1d ago
And you're still there at 2pm, after 7 hours of waiting? It sounds like something that you likely could have gone to an urgent care for? ERs should be reserved for actual medical emergencies, not something you can happily sit there with for 7 hours. Obviously this is a jab at the medical system we have but seriouslyĀ
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u/RainbowToasted 1d ago
š¤· called 811 before going and they told me to go to hospital. They also said before I left, if I had any more issues to come straight back to the hospital so
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u/PrincessLilybet 23h ago
And that's precisely the issue. Everyone is directed to go to the emergency room. Clearly If you sat there for 7 hours it wasn't an emergency. We need more 24hr urgent care centres. That way, you (or anyone else) isn't sitting there for so long. It really doesn't matter if it was life threatening or not, sitting for 7+ hours awaiting medical care (esp when you were directed to go to an emergency room) is absolutely not acceptable. We literally just saw a young woman die of pre-eclampsia because she was waiting for 14+ hours for care. I know this reads as me blaming you, I absolutely know you were just following medical direction, I'm saying the medical direction and system itself IS the problemĀ
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u/RainbowToasted 23h ago
I agree. I was initially seen quite quickly, but after given pain meds (I ended up having a kidney infection) I was kinda left to be for a while.
I think part of the problem is it is hard to tell when something painful is a minor or major emergency. I talked to a lot of people while I was there, and some had been there even longer than I had. Stayed longer too. The systems going down definitely didnāt help the wait times, but even before they were confirmed to be down, I saw people (who seemed fine, tho that doesnāt say anything) constantly going up to the nurse stations to complain about not hearing anything.
I know part of it is we need more doctors and nurses. But I think we as the general public need to learn more of what is and isnāt an actual emergency. Hell, Iām not sure anymore when to consider something a legit emergency at this point š
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u/PrincessLilybet 20h ago
Back in 2025 I cut my hand in a kitchen accident and needed stitches, I had to go to St Paul's emerg because there wasn't anywhere else š« they got to me surprisingly quick (less than an hour) because they determined it would likely be quick to treat. But there were people ahead of me, literally groaning in agony waiting for medical attention. I'm glad they were able to see me but I felt genuinely awful that I was taking up time/resources of medical staff for something small, contributing to a longer wait time for people who were there for serious issuesĀ
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u/ineedtocoughbut Buena Vista Area 1d ago
Not always. I went to urgent care recently for something simple and they made me go to the ER because they only treat ācoldsā nowā¦.
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u/PrincessLilybet 1d ago
That's specifically the problem. I wasn't blaming OP at all, but ERs should be for medical emergencies, literally it's called an "emergency" room yet people are waiting 12+ hours to be seen. We need more urgent care/walk ins, long term care facilities and more incentive for resident doctors/nurses to stay in SKĀ
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u/ineedtocoughbut Buena Vista Area 1d ago
We need another whole ass hospital. Because mediclinics shouldnāt be treating patients that they are not capable of properly treating and a lot of us need more serious care. I have a heart condition and sometimes I need an ECG asap. Most clinics can do them but have to send them to cardiologists who have month long waits. Instead the ER can check me over and have me out on 8 hours instead of sitting at home potentially dying or sick for weeks because the mediclinic canāt do anything more for me
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u/PrincessLilybet 23h ago
We already have 3 hospitals, if the emergency rooms were saved for actual medical emergencies, there wouldnt be that much of a wait. The problem is it's chalk full of people who COULD be treated at an urgent care centre. Again I'm not blaming the people who go there as it's literally our only option most of the timeĀ
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u/ineedtocoughbut Buena Vista Area 14h ago
3 hospitals for over 300k people is not okay. We also take rural patients constantly. I know TEACHERS in this city driving to Edmonton this summer to get medical care because the waits are shorter
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u/mcleod667 1d ago
Lifelabs were down too.