It is overly simplistic to blame current capacity issues at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital strictly on the COVID-19 pandemic, advises hospital president and CEO Karen Davies.
It has been an ongoing problem that becomes particularly acute during the winter, she points out.
The number of patients requiring critical care at the hospital is the highest since the start of the pandemic. Davies stresses the apparently low numbers of patients in ICU is not a true indicator of the strain that puts on resources.
Davies noted earlier this week two ICU patients had to be transferred to London hospitals to help ease the capacity crunch.
Davies says the issue now is the lack of space and warns “we are physically maxed out.”
Because of these two factors, the region’s medical officer of health Dr. Joyce Lock has strongly hinted additional COVID capacity restrictions may be on the way.
As of Wednesday, there are 15 COVID-19 patients hospitalized across the Southwestern Public Health region with eight of those in ICU.
