Health Alliance officials make vaccination plea during ‘significant demand’ on services

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Chatham-Kent hospital group officials are pleading with people to get vaccinated after two local COVID-19 patients had to be transferred to hospital in London on Jan. 4 to reduce the strain on critical care beds.

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“We are at a crossroads in our community,” Chatham-Kent Health Alliance president and CEO Lori Marshall said during a media conference. “We are experiencing, certainly, the most significant demand on hospital services that we have seen at (the Health Alliance) throughout the entire pandemic.”

Capacity in the medicine and critical care units was listed at 100.9 per cent on Jan. 4, with nine of 10 intensive care unit beds occupied by COVID-positive patients, along with another six COVID patients in the 12-bed progressive care unit.

The hospital had a record 34 COVID-19 patients, including 25 who were unvaccinated. Fourteen of the 15 patients occupying critical care beds were also unvaccinated, hospital group chief of staff Dr. Pervez Faruqi said.

“These figures speak for themselves that there’s a much higher risk of getting seriously sick and requiring ventilation and critical care in unvaccinated patients,” Faruqi said.

He urged those who have not been vaccinated “to please do so.”

He said vaccination is for the benefit of their families, the community and the local health-care system.

Ontario has seen an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases with the arrival of the Omicron variant. While all hospitals in the region are seeing an increase in COVID patients, Marshall said, at this point, Chatham-Kent has the highest number of critical care patients in the region.

This is taking a heavy toll on hospital staff.

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The hospital’s vice-president of clinical programs and operations, Caen Suni, said 58 staff are off because of the virus or exposure to COVID-19.

Suni said the incidences of staff burnout have so far been consistent over the course of pandemic.

“I fear we’re going into a period where it’s going to be aggravated even further, and we’re going to be requiring a great deal from our front-line staff and everyone who works at this hospital,” he said.

Suni also anticipates the number of staff impacted by COVID-19 will increase.

Marshall said “the best thing” that Chatham-Kent residents can do to support health-care workers and the hospital “is to become vaccinated.”

The Health Alliance is following the latest directive from Ontario Health by pausing all non-emergent and non-urgent surgeries and procedures as of 12:01 am on Jan. 5 to preserve critical care and human resource capacity.

Suni said qualified staff is being redeployed to other areas of the hospital where necessary, including 14 team members from the operating room who are being diverted to the inpatient medicine, progressive care and intensive care units.

“We’ve been experiencing high occupancy and we don’t expect that to be resolved anytime soon,” he said.

Suni said the hospital has the ability to add one or two extra ICU beds.

“We’ve been able to identify staff teams and appropriate models to accommodate that expanded capacity in short term,” he said.

The hospital group will continue to provide emergency and urgent surgeries and procedures, including surgeries to treat cancer.

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However, it’s estimated an average of 59 elective local procedures and 117 operating room cases will be postponed on a weekly basis. Hospital officials noted the type of procedures being postponed include joint, tonsil and cataract surgeries and gynecological procedures.

The temporary slowdown of services also includes ambulatory care and outpatient therapy clinics. Medical day care services are being temporarily shifted from the hospital group’s Wallaceburg location to Chatham.

Suni said the hospital has been instructed to postpone these procedures until at least Jan. 17, when the provincewide situation is expected to be reassessed.

As well, Suni said this a good time remind residents to not come to the emergency department unless they require urgent care.