[ad_1]
To help with the provincial burden of COVID-19 patients needing intensive care, Windsor Regional Hospital and Erie Shores HealthCare are putting a pause on non-urgent, elective procedures as of 12:01 a.m. Monday.
Article content
Non-urgent, elective procedures at Windsor Regional Hospital are again being postponed to prepare for an influx of provincial COVID-19 patients requiring intensive or high-level care.
Hospital president and CEO David Musyj said on Friday that this latest ramping-down measure must be taken due to a new provincial directive, based on the projections of Ontario Health and the provincial COVID-19 Science Advisory Table.
“It’s a provincial health care system. Our beds at Windsor Regional Hospital are provincial beds,” Musyj said.
“We have to help out the rest of the province.”
According to Windsor Regional Hospital, most of the postponements involve non-urgent surgeries and diagnostic scans.
The pause will be in effect starting 12:01 a.m. on Monday, April 12. The hospital will contact patients in advance if their appointments are affected.
Erie Shores HealthCare in Leamington is also affected by the directive and will have an identical pause on non-urgent, elective procedures.
Musyj said Ontario Health predicts COVID-19 inpatients at hospitals will double by the end of the month: From 1,417 province-wide as of April 7 to 2,881 by April 30.
Similarly, the number of COVID-19 patients needing intensive care (523 province-wide, as of April 7) is expected to rise by hundreds in the same time frame.
Windsor Regional Hospital ramping up elective surgeries
COVID-19 forces Windsor Regional Hospital to postpone hundreds of surgeries
Windsor Regional Hospital cancels all non-urgent surgeries
Windsor Regional Hospital closes Met Campus COVID-19 assessment centre
Windsor Regional Hospital previously paused non-urgent, elective surgeries in December, during the pandemic’s second wave in Ontario.
The hospital began resuming such procedures in mid-February, tackling a backlog that has been estimated it will take 18 months to clear.
Musyj said he understands Friday’s announcement must be frustrating for those locally who may be dealing with postponement of their non-urgent procedures for a second time, or even a third time.
“We have to support our colleagues across the province, just like they have supported us in the past,” Musyj said.
“Yes, it’s painful to be postponed again. But these are life and death decisions we are dealing with. We’re trying to keep people alive.”
More to come.
[ad_2]
Source link
