CHEO has opened a second pediatric intensive care unit to deal with an overflow of critically sick infants and younger kids with respiratory diseases.
The hospital is coping with a never-before-seen inflow of youngsters with diseases together with RSV, COVID-19, flu and different viruses.
“Unprecedented looks like an overused phrase for the time being, however there’s no higher time period to explain the crisis dealing with our pediatric health-care system proper now,” Dr. Lindy Samson, CHEO’s chief of employees, stated in a information launch.
CHEO had beforehand added beds to its current PICU. The new unit makes 5 extra beds out there to kids and youth. The area has been briefly reassigned from CHEO’s surgical day unit.
The hospital is experiencing greater than double its regular quantity of youthful sufferers, resulting in longer emergency room wait instances.
CHEO says it is taking different measures to cope with the crisis, together with redeploying clinicians with crucial care expertise to assist in the PICU, reassigning different employees and suspending some surgical procedures and clinic appointments to release employees.
It has additionally adopted peak viral season measures, which implies just one father or mother or designated caregiver is allowed at a sick kid’s bedside.
On Monday, Samson pleaded at Ottawa’s board of well being assembly for the general public to put on masks. On Wednesday she reiterated that plea.
“At this time, we’d like Ottawa to come back collectively as a group and assist cut back the unfold of those viral diseases in our group, so CHEO can get again to offering take care of all kids and youth who want it, in a well timed method. So please put on a masks in crowded indoor areas, together with faculties,” she stated.
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Time to put on masks ‘as soon as once more,’ Ottawa Public Health urges
Hospital wait instances at all-time excessive
CHEO’s transfer to open a second ICU comes as new knowledge reveals wait instances in Ontario emergency rooms are increased than ever.
In Ottawa, the common wait to see a health care provider within the ER could be almost double the provincial common.
“This weekend we had 24 admitted in our ER we solely had 22 beds and we nonetheless noticed 240 sufferers coming by who weren’t admitted,” stated Yvonne Wilson, vice-president of affected person care and chief nurse govt at Queensway-Carleton Hospital. “So it creates a problem once we’re confronted with that.”
Hospital officers say individuals searching for pressing care ought to nonetheless come to the emergency room.
“Patients who current to the Emergency Department are triaged primarily based on the severity of sickness/harm; these with probably the most extreme situations will probably be seen as shortly as doable, and sadly, some sufferers might expertise longer wait instances,” Ottawa Hospital spokesperson Rebecca Abelson stated.
“Health-care suppliers at all times work laborious to make sure that those that want care will obtain it. If you want emergency care, you need to proceed to come back to the Emergency Department.”
At CHEO, the common wait to see a health care provider is greater than three and a half hours. The provincial common is 2 hours.
Here are the most recent common wait instances to first evaluation by a health care provider at Ottawa-area hospitals:
Ottawa Hospital General Campus: 3.7 hours
CHEO: 3.4 hours
Queensway Carleton Hospital: 2.8
Ottawa Hospital Civic campus: 2.7 hours
Montfort Hospital: 2.2 hours
Here are the wait instances to be admitted to a hospital mattress (provincial common 21.3 hours):
Queensway Carleton Hospital: 23.7 hours
Ottawa Hospital General campus: 22 hours
Ottawa Hospital Civic campus: 21.6 hours
CHEO: 16.1 hours
Montfort Hospital: 16 hours