Surgeries that require hospitalization are on hold at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont and Santa Cabrini hospitals in Montreal due to coronavirus outbreaks at both facilities.
The CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, the regional health authority for Montreal’s east end, announced on Wednesday that this decision was made for security reasons. There are coronavirus outbreaks in both hospitals and a high number of patients requiring short-term hospitalization.
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The CIUSSS said the measure does not apply to urgent surgeries or those required by patients who are already hospitalized. Day surgeries that do not require hospitalization and that are considered semi-urgent, as well as cancer surgeries, are also permitted.
The regional health authority says the high rate of occupancy at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont and Santa Cabrini hospitals is a result of directives from Quebec’s health ministry.
As part of its plan to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, the government has suspended all new admissions to long-term care homes (CHSLD) in the province.
As a result, that means patients who could be referred to those facilities are not allowed to go and must, therefore, stay longer at the hospital.
Quebec Health Minister Danielle McCann confirmed the directive on Wednesday and admitted it could be creating a problem in certain hospitals.
“Some emergencies, not all emergencies, are experiencing more overflow and that’s linked to, probably, the fact that they don’t have enough beds for people,” she said.
READ MORE: Quebec delays non-urgent care in hospitals to allow medical staff to work in nursing homes
The CIUSSS indicates that it is looking for a solution in order to be able to free up hospital beds and admit new patients.
Operations that require hospitalization should resume as soon as a solution has been found, according to the health authority.
Quebec’s public health director, Dr. Horacio Arruda, added that the steep curve of cases in long-term care homes is starting to shift downward.
“So, I think by the end of the week, probably, we will confirm that, really, the number of deaths per day is going down,” he said.
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Meanwhile, the Verdun Hospital opened an additional field unit Wednesday, after less than three weeks of construction.
To control the spread of COVID-19, the hospital was forced to limit the number of patients per room.
That means the hospital’s capacity went from 244 beds down to just I57, according to Joceyln Barriault, emergency medical director for the CIUSSS Centre-Sud-de-Montréal
The new four-season annex, which resembles a large tent, will help increase the number of patients the hospital can care for.
“The add-on with the increase of 32 places in the unit will permit to decrease the pressure on the emergency,” Barriault said.
The new temporary addition wing will remain in place until no longer needed.
— With files from Global’s Annabelle Olivier and The Canadian Press
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