Georgetown Hospital is the smallest of the three Halton Hospitals with 75 beds included three intensive care beds. Increasing community infection rates and a recent “outbreak” at the hospital have sparked concerns that the critical care system could be overwhelmed.
An “outbreak” was declared on November 11 when two in-patients in Georgetown Hospital's Complex Transitional Care Unit tested positive. According to Trish Carlton, director, communications and public affairs for Halton Healthcare, the situation was quickly contained: “While the origin of the infection was not known, we initiated a series of precautionary measures that would assist in reducing the risk of further cases. This included suspending all patient visiting, especially since the number of community cases in Georgetown and the surrounding area had increased.”
The outbreak was declared over, fourteen days later, on November 25. “No additional cases in staff or patients were traced back to these two initial cases,” said Carlton. “With community transmission of the disease still occurring in Halton Region, we have introduced restricted visiting to continue to reduce the number of people in our facilities.”
As we go to press, Halton Region reports there are five new cases among the 52 active cases in Halton Hills. As well, three COVID cases are under care at Georgetown Hospital, eight at Milton District Hospital and eleven at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. Currently there are 11 patients in ICU with COVID among three hospitals.
“Any patient with COVID-19 in our hospitals is treated in the most appropriate medical setting. This could be in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or a medical unit,” explains Carlton. “In Georgetown Hospital any patient who is COVID-19 positive is placed in Additional Precautions in a single patient room if possible. Patients with COVID-19 would not be placed in a room with a patient who does not have COVID-19.”
One metric that is closely watched is Halton's health system capacity, specifically the acute care and intensive care bed occupancy rates currently sitting at 94 percent and 88 percent respectively (based on an average of the last seven days). The first number is particularly troubling, but Carlton is reassuring. “Our COVID-19 Pandemic Response Plan was created with a view to ensure that our three hospitals act as one hospital system to respond to the needs of our three communities throughout the pandemic. Patients may be transferred between our three hospitals depending on the medical needs of the patient and the occupancy at the hospitals. We are also working with our regional and provincial partners who are closely tracking hospital occupancy and capacity across the province.”
Giving COVID cases priority has lead to an astonishing backlog of surgical procedures in hospitals globally and in Ontario. One report published on September 1, looked at the period of the first lockdown between March 13 and June 13, 2020. During that time, the estimated backlog was 148,364 surgeries with an average increase of 11,413 new surgeries being added weekly. The authors of the report estimated that this has resulted in a backlog of 84 weeks of surgeries in Ontario.
However, Carlton suggests Georgetown Hospital is doing what it can to clear up the backlog. “During wave one of the pandemic, all critical surgery and procedures proceeded when required. We are now back to our pre-COVID levels of surgical and diagnostic activity and have initiated the work to re-book the clinical activity that was postponed in the early months of this crisis.”
The pandemic has changed the way hospitals function, restricted visiting and adherence to COVID protocols have made them feel like different places. In many cases, people are reluctant to go to hospitals unless they are gravely ill. This should not be the case, according to Carlton.
“A phenomenon that occurred across the province was people not coming to the hospitals for care. Hospitals, even at the peak of a pandemic, are perhaps among the safest because we are prepared. Our staff are trained to support the appropriate care of patients with contagious diseases. Hospitals are built to respond to many crises – a pandemic is one of them.
Comments