B.C. reactivates Emergency Operation Centres at hospital as pressure builds

The B.C. government is reactivating Emergency Operation Centres in health authorities as pressure continues to build in the health-care system.

The operations centres will be put in place starting on Monday as respiratory illness season continues in the province, Health Minister Adrian Dix said Friday.

Currently, no scheduled surgeries are being cancelled and people who require ongoing hospital care will continue to receive it.

“Demand for hospital care is high. British Columbia traditionally experiences an increase in hospitalizations in January as people access care after the holiday period,” an info bulletin from the Ministry of Health reads.

“This coincides with increases in respiratory illnesses and surgeries ramping back up after the holiday slowdown.”

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The province has used these Emergency Operations Centres throughout its response to the pandemic, as well as during wildfire and extreme weather events— including the most recent extreme cold weather and snowstorms.

They will be in place for a minimum of six weeks.

They will also ensure dedicated leadership teams are reviewing hospital bed availability and identifying solutions to ease emergency department congestion.

These actions increase patient flow so that the most vulnerable patients, including those who need critical care, access the care they need.

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“January is always a busy time in health care and we have all these issues,” Dix said Thursday.

He said there were currently 372 people in hospitals in B.C. with COVID-19, with 28 in intensive care.

In addition, there were 223 people in hospitals with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or the flu as of Thursday. Twenty-nine of them are in intensive care, with 26 in the intensive care unit with the flu.

The number of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 XBB 1.5 subvariant stands at 12 documented as of Wednesday, Dix said.

That’s up from the five cases confirmed last Friday. And it’s likely a significant undercount.

“There are obviously more cases than that. These are the tested cases that have gone through whole genome sequencing,” Dix said.

“What it tells you is it’s here in B.C. For the moment, it’s not the most important subvariant, but it’s just starting here.”

Resources will be available seven days a week to support hospital units at the 20 hospitals across the province, which care for most patients in B.C.

These hospitals are Abbotsford Regional, Royal Columbian, Surrey Memorial, East Kootenay Regional, Kelowna General, Kootenay Boundary Regional, Penticton Regional, Royal Inland, Vernon Jubilee, Fort St. John & Peace Villa, Mills Memorial, University Hospital of Northern BC, BC Children’s, Lions Gate, Richmond, St. Paul’s, Vancouver General, Nanaimo Regional General, Royal Jubilee, and Victoria General.

The province is not considering any additional restrictions, including a mask mandate in public indoor places.