Ontario hospitals have been directed to ramp down all elective surgeries and non-emergent activities effective April 12, according to the Ontario Hospital Association’s President.
Posted Apr 09, 2021, 05:28AM EDT
Ontario hospitals have been directed to ramp down all elective surgeries and non-emergent activities effective April 12, according to the Ontario Hospital Association’s President.
Anthony Dale shared the information on his Twitter account late Thursday night, and said the move is due to a major redeployment of staff and resources that is “required to provide care for a large wave of COVID patients requiring hospitalization.”
Dale added this situation is “extraordinarily serious” and asked for patience and support as hospitals deal with the “historic crisis.”
Effective April 12th, hospitals have been directed to ramp down all elective surgeries & non-emergent/non-urgent activities. A major redeployment of staff and resources is required to provide care for a large wave of COVID patients requiring hospitalization. #onhealth #onpoli
— Anthony Dale (@AnthonyDaleOHA) April 9, 2021
According to the province’s most recent COVID-19 modelling, the surgical backlog is nearing 250,000 since the province paused elective surgeries at the beginning of the pandemic.
There are currently 1,417 people in hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 525 were in intensive care – 100 more than the peak number of intensive care admissions during the pandemic’s second wave.
The modelling also predicted patients in the ICU will reach 800 by April 30.
Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, who presented the data, said at that point, with 800 people in the ICUs, “We are not able to provide all the care as well as we would want to people.”
