The region’s hospital group has been asked to consider increasing the number of pediatric beds at Stratford General Hospital as the province’s health-care system continues to respond to a flu season that’s hit early and hard, particularly among children.
The region’s hospital group has been asked to consider increasing the number of pediatric beds at Stratford General Hospital as the province’s health-care system continues to respond to a flu season that’s hit early and hard, particularly among children.
The hospital – one of four in the region managed by the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance – normally has four beds available for kids, the only ones in Huron and Perth counties. Stratford General had already bumped that up to six before provincial health-care officials made a request for two more this week, said Mary Cardinal, the alliance’s chief quality executive.
“We are working to see if we have the staffing to be able to do that,” she said Friday. “This is not unlike wave three of COVID back in the spring of ’21, when we increased our adult ICU (capacity) from six beds to 13 and we were accepting patients from the (Greater Toronto Area).”
The request is a reminder about how public health trends can affect the system as a whole.
A perfect storm of illness – COVID-19, the flu and a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to which kids are especially vulnerable – is currently squeezing the province’s hospitals.
This week, there were 114 children in Ontario intensive care units, two more than the total number of beds available, provincial figures released Thursday show. Prior to Friday, Ontario had more children in ICU than the system is built to handle for five of the previous eight days.
The overcapacity pediatric ICUs come as children’s hospitals have been reporting huge surges in pediatric intensive care admissions largely due to the flu and RSV. Major children’s hospitals, like the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and CHEO in Ottawa, have canceled non-urgent surgeries in order to redeploy staff to the hardest hit parts – the emergency department, ICU and pediatric wards.
In Southwestern Ontario, London Health Sciences Center said Thursday occupancy at Children’s Hospital was at 115 per cent, the highest it’s ever been. Non-urgent patients in the Children’s Hospital emergency room could expect average wait times of six to eight hours, mainly due to the large volume of patients coming in with RSV and influenza symptoms.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones said Thursday the rate of increase in respiratory illnesses driving the surge in pediatric hospitalizations appears to be slowing down, but did not cite data on the issue.
“I would say that what we are seeing is a slowing down of the increase,” she said at a news conference. “I’m not going to presuppose that that means we are coming to a plateau, but we are seeing a slowing down of the percentage increase, which is a good sign.”
Hospital officials, meanwhile, are still striking a different tone.
“We anticipate significant ongoing pressures in the coming weeks and support the government’s recommendation for individuals to mask in public places, as we know masking is one of the most effective tools for preventing disease transmission,” London Health Sciences Center said in a statement Wednesday.
It’s important for the health-care system to be able to handle overflow when the province’s largest hospitals are busy.
“We want to make sure that the level of resources available at LHSC and at the Children’s Hospital are available for the sickest children,” Cardinal said.
But smaller hospitals are feeling pressure, too.
Since Oct. 27, the Huron-Perth hospital alliance has admitted 15 patients with influenza, 12 of which were six years of age or younger. Local hospitals have also admitted 10 patients with RSV since Sept. 16, nine of which were six years of age or younger.
“If we’re not running at full capacity, we’re running at close to full capacity,” Cardinal said. “Our emergency department volumes are up, particularly with children.”
Seven adults with with the flu – 19, 29, and 37 years old – have also been admitted to hospitals in the region so far this month, Cardinal said.
“We don’t normally see that,” she added. “They’re normally … 65 and up.”
Over the course of an average flu season there are far fewer admissions in Stratford. There were only two in 2017-2018, Cardinal said.
Public health officials have strongly recommended wearing masks in indoor spaces, and have also urged people to make sure they’re up to date on vaccinations and staying home when they’re sick.
“Those are really simple, good measures that work,” Cardinal said. “Those are really important measures and they served as well in the flu season over the past two years.”
-With files from Jennifer Bieman, Postmedia News, and The Canadian Press