SickKids hospital to begin ramping surgeries back up as respiratory surge abates

Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children says it will begin increasing surgeries on Monday.

SickKids — Canada’s largest pediatric hospital — decided to ramp down surgeries in mid-November in order to redeploy staff to its overwhelmed intensive care unit and emergency department.

Pediatric hospitals across Ontario have had to cancel surgeries in order to deal with a major surge in respiratory illnesses.

SickKids says it has seen the number of patients stabilize to volumes usually seen this time of year.

Associate Chief of Perioperative Services Dr. Simon Kelley says these past few months has been the most challenging time in the hospital’s history.

Six of its 16 operating rooms were shut down during the past two months, but they continued to provide emergency and time-sensitive surgeries during that difficult stretch.

2:22 Ambulances dedicated to SickKids Hospital for patient transfers