The interim CEO of Eastern Health says pressures on emergency departments has much to do with staffing and shifting priorities in work-life balance.

Ken Baird was speaking this morning during Eastern Health’s annual general meeting in St. John’s.

He and other officials broadly highlighted progress and successes for the authority over the past year.

But there was little mention of the current crisis involving unprecedented advisories for people to stay away from emergency rooms in metro, unless absolutely necessary.

That was until a member of the public challenged Baird to speak specifically to the issue.

Ken Baird, interim CEO of Eastern Health, addresses the organization’s annual general meeting at the Holiday Inn in St. John’s. Baird has stepped in for David Diamond, who is leading the transition to one health authority for the province. ⁦@VOCMNEWS⁩ pic.twitter.com/W5ek8mc24h

— Brian Callahan (@briancallahan67) September 29, 2022

Baird says it’s a new dynamic that Eastern Health is trying to adapt to.

He says the authority is seeing more staff reassess and make new choices to accommodate their work-life balance, which Baird says is a “completely new phenomenon” that wasn’t anticipated and is leading to backlogs and delays at emergency departments.

He noted a slew of other pressures are still impacting operations, not the least of which is the fallout from COVID-19 and the recent cyberattack.

Baird took over as CEO in May from David Diamond, who is overseeing the transition to one health board for the entire province.

Meanwhile, the board also released its annual performance report during today’s public meeting.

The health authority says it remains committed to reducing wait times for mental health and addictions services, adding wait times have dropped for child psychiatry while child and teen counselling wait times remain stable.

Eastern Health says they also continue to work on improving access to primary health care for people without a family doctor.

And they say they’ve achieved a nearly 2 per cent reduction with the inappropriate use of antibiotics.

The health authority is also reporting a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by more than 3,200 tonnes in the past year.