Coronavirus: Jewish General Hospital works to expand ICU

The Quebec government announced Friday 10 more deaths as a result of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of fatalities to 18.

Of the 2,021 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the province, nearly half or 971, are in Montreal.

Montreal’s regional director of public health Dre. Mylène Drouin said Wednesday that 42 per cent of positive cases in Montreal were concentrated in the territory serviced by the CIUSSS West-Central Montreal health network, which includes Côte Saint-Luc, Hampstead, Montreal West, Town of Mount Royal, Westmount, Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Parc Extension, Outremont, and parts of the Plateau Mont-Royal and Ville-Marie boroughs.

Drouin said it’s not known why the cases seem to be concentrated in one area, but public health authorities are investigating each case.

The Jewish General Hospital, which falls under the jurisdiction of the CIUSSS West-Central Montreal health network, was one of four hospitals across the province initially designated to treat COVID-19 cases in February.

Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg, president and CEO of the CIUSSS West-Central Montreal, confirmed Friday the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) is reaching capacity.

“We have 40 patients and 19 are in the ICU,” he said, adding the unit’s capacity is for 20 patients.

Rosenberg clarified, however, by saying the numbers didn’t mean the hospital was at capacity in terms of providing intensive care or critical care beds.

“We have a plan to scale up to as many as 53-60 beds scattered around the institution in critical care areas should we need to do that,” he said.

The hospital has 85 negative-pressure rooms for COVID-19 patients, and if needed, some operating rooms can also be adapted to house patients.

2:23 Quebec public health officials closely monitoring coronavirus situation in Côte Saint-Luc

Rosenberg said the hospital has been preparing for the influx of patients for months.

“Knowing it was going to cross the Atlantic, we began preparing early in January,” he said.

While it’s not known when the number of cases will peak, Rosenberg remains optimistic.

“Hopefully this will peak within the next 10-14 days and things will begin to cool off somewhat,” he said.

“If things stay the way they are, I think we will be able to manage the patients that we’re getting.”

When the number of patients in the ICU reached 10, Rosenberg said the government initiated phase 2 of its mobilization program, enlisting more hospitals to provide care.

Rosenberg applauded the work of public health officials and front line workers, but reminded Quebecers of the crucial role they also play in keeping the virus in check.

“I really think we need to reassure the population that if they do what they need to do which is to self-isolate, social distance, washing frequently, keeping their hands away from their face, because that the worst thing you can do to transmit the virus,” he said.

“If everybody does their thing, we’ll be able to do our thing and we’ll come out of this in the next few weeks.”

— With files from Global’s Kalina Laframboise and Olivia O’Malley