‘It’s going to bankrupt health care’: Spending on temp agency nurses up more than 550% since pre-pandemic at one Toronto hospital network
A nurse for temp agency Preceptor Inc., has gone from working in the operating room to scrub nurse in the intensive care unit at the Royal University Hospital in Toronto, Canada.
According to CBC News, temp agency Preceptor Inc. has seen an increase in their contract with the hospital that was reported on Monday. Preceptor Inc has a history of temp nursing jobs ending in tragedy, and on Monday an employee went into cardiac arrest during a shift, and was later pronounced dead.
“It’s a terrible situation, it’s a terrible story,” said the head of the hospital’s Occupational Health department, Dr. Brian Wintre, and “It seems like it’s just getting worse and worse and worse.”
The hospital said the incident is being investigated.
“As a nation and a society, we all depend on hospitals and health care services… The fact that this happened is alarming. It just reek[s] all over the place,” said Canadian Health Minister Patty Hajdu.
The CBC reported that Preceptor Inc. is a large temp agency that has been hiring at the hospital.
“It’s concerning to us,” said Dr. Wintre, “and we want to find out more about it.”
The hospital will offer the Preceptor nurses temp agency positions, but has not yet advertised them.
“I am very sorry about this situation, we are working to get it resolved,” said a Preceptor Inc. spokesperson. The hospital also said it is currently offering medical assistance to everyone in the hospital that need it, and has not had any issues like this in the past.
“We’re committed to being accessible and we’re committed to our mission, so I don’t see anything that needs to be fixed at this point,” said Dr Wintre.
The hospital was made