Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) is postponing elective and non-urgent surgeries to focus efforts on the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With the COVID-19 variants having more severe and fatal consequences, KHSC is anticipating the next several weeks to be very difficult for the overall health system,” said KHSC CEO, Dr. David Pichora Friday.
Thursday, Global News learned that Kingston General Hospital intensive care units (ICUs) were at times, at capacity.
By the end of Friday, KHSC expects to be serving 23 COVID-19 patients from out-of-region in Kingston ICUs. Still, more than half of patients in the hospital’s main ICU are being treated for non-COVID-related critical care.
In an interview Friday, Dr. Kieran Moore, medical officer of health for the region, says with health-care needs elsewhere in the province, the number of out-of-region patients in Kingston hospitals could surpass 30 by the end of the weekend.
Moore also said there are three local patients in hospital with COVID-19, none of which are in ICUs.
Across the province, Moore said 552 COVID-19 patients are in ICUs. With this increase in critical care needs, Pichora said the province has asked all hospital systems to cut down on their elective surgeries.
“They’re calling it Team Ontario — all of the hospitals and beyond really functioning as one system to help take advantage of the capacity we have, because we all know that there are hospitals in certain parts of the province, especially the GTA, that are becoming overwhelmed,” Pichora said.
KHSC says patients whose surgeries or appointments need to be delayed will be notified by phone by their health-care providers.
If patients do not receive a phone call, they should attend their appointments as planned.
Emergency care for patients suffering from conditions such as traumas, strokes and heart attacks will continue, as will diagnostic image testing such as MRIs and non-deferrable care for diseases like certain cancers, and also for expectant parents who go into labour.
As cases continue to rise, KHSC says it’s become challenging to predict what the critical-care demand will be on any given day.
“Now with more severe COVID-19 cases on the rise, that unpredictability has increased, and we need to be prepared for any scenario,” Pichora says.
Nevertheless, Pichora said that support for the Ministry of Health has allowed KHSC to add more acute-care beds, making the Kingston General “well-positioned to meet increasing demand.”
Despite the extra beds, Pichora acknowledged that more beds means more work for staff, which he says are currently being moved around to be able to support the influx of ICU patients.
“It’s a lot of work. And, you know, our staff have done a terrific job so far of stepping up and just pulling together. I expect there’s going to be a lot of people in this weekend continuing to make those moves so that we have the capacity that’s needed and to plan for … the care that needs to happen,” he said.
He said patients are not currently being sent to Kingston’s field hospital, which is at the former St. Mary’s of the Lake hospital.
“Our field hospital is physically ready to go. It’s the last place we’re going to go to, and we haven’t had to go there yet. But it is ready,” he said.
He also said Providence Care is preparing to open two floors to relieve pressure at KHSC. Some patients have been moved to community hospitals nearby to try to keep spaces open.
Finally, Pichora said he understands that surgeries, procedures and appointments currently being deferred are still needed in the community.
“We know that elective care is is not elective for the people who need it. If you’re suffering with a painful hip and you’re very disabled because of that, it seems like an emergency to you and to your family,” he said.
He didn’t give a timeline of when elective surgeries might resume, but said it’s a priority to get them started back up and keep people out of emergency rooms.
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