The Montreal Children’s Hospital was experiencing a high volume of patients requiring hospitalization or critical care on the weekend and it resulted in asking the public to avoid bringing their kids if the situation was non-urgent.
“This increase puts a strain on emergency services, who need to care for patients waiting for a bed,” said a statement from the hospital on Sunday. “As a result, we are currently unable to see patients whose condition is non-urgent.”
Montreal public health said the Children’s Hospital ER occupancy rate is 192 per cent, the second highest rate among all hospitals in the city.
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Dr. Robert Barnes, the hospital’s associate director of professional services, said ER wait times were currently up to 18 hours and didn’t know when the wait would decrease.
He said the hospital was not seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases, but rather infections of all kinds.
Health officials were asking parents and guardians to instead consult a doctor, go-to a rapid access clinic or speak with a nurse by calling Info-Santé at 8-1-1 if a child is ill but the situation is not an emergency.
In an update on Monday, the Montreal Children’s Hospital announced that its emergency alert had been lifted and was resuming normal operations.
“However, our teams would like to remind the public that people with non-urgent and non-severe health problems should turn to resources other than the emergency department at all times,” the Monday statement said.
— With files from The Canadian Press