Staff have been doing the best they can, the source said, seeing people in hallways, the ambulance bay and other spaces; the relatively small ER waiting room is not built for a crowd of that size

You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

Staff who work inside Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital tell me that the overnight scene in the emergency department waiting room has been an extraordinary struggle during the recent cold snap.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Struggling ERs are a major storyline right now, especially following the horrific, likely preventable death of a 44-year-old father who collapsed at the Grey Nuns Hospital after an eight-hour wait with chest pains. Shocking but entirely foreseeable after years of system neglect, the threat of more of these tragedies occurring is, unfortunately, all too real.

While none of this is a surprise, over at the Royal Alex, overcrowding on the unit has been at another level, to the point that there have been at least a few nights with more than 100 people in the waiting room — at least according to veteran staff who say they have never seen those kinds of numbers before.

Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.

By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of Headline News will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

Interested in more newsletters? Browse here.

And this is not just due to flu season and the city’s growing population, though those are contributing factors. In the Royal Alex’s case, staff say it appears a significant number from the city’s homeless population are using the waiting room as an overnight shelter because they are either unwilling or unable to find somewhere else to go.

“It’s nuts,” one health worker told me. “Around 6........

© Edmonton Journal