Are you ‘for’ or ‘with’ COVID? Ontario changes wording on COVID hospitalizations

The province is changing its language around hospitalizations to distinguish between people admitted for COVID-19 and people admitted for other reasons who later test positive for COVID-19.

It’s something that has been dubbed “incidental COVID,” in which people hospitalized for other emergencies then test positive for the virus as part of the detection process.

In December, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky made the distinction while referring to COVID in children’s hospitals.

“Many children are hospitalized with COVID instead of COVID,” he said during a call with reporters.

On Tuesday, Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted“While this does not change the dire situation in Ontario hospitals, it is important to share this data to provide additional context on the status of the pandemic.”

In their website, Ontario provides a breakdown of the new dataset. “This dataset details the percentage of positive patients for COVID-19 in hospitals and ICUs for reasons related to COVID-19 and for reasons other than COVID-19,” the site says.

“We just need a lot more clarity and context than what we’re getting here,” tweeted Ed Tubb, editor of the Star.

On December 29, the province directed hospitals to collect data on COVID patients to distinguish between those admitted because they are sick with the virus and those who test positive when they are admitted for other reasons.

In an email to Star, a spokesperson said the Health Ministry asked hospitals to update their daily reports “to be transparent and provide the public with as much context as possible,” adding that “changes to public reports will be made. in the coming days.”

But hospital leaders told the Star that while tracking such data can help the province with health system planning, it does not necessarily affect day-to-day operations, which are under extreme pressure from the surge in patients with COVID combined with a severe staff shortage.

“From a nursing perspective, it really doesn’t make much of a difference because these are patients who are sick and are infectious,” said Mary-Agnes Wilson, director of nursing for Mackenzie Health, which includes Richmond Hill Hospital and Cortellucci. Vaughan Hospital.

Patients who test positive for COVID while receiving care for another injury or illness may not have the same length of stay as a seriously ill patient with the virus, said Wilson, who is also executive vice president and chief operating officer of Mackenzie Health. “But they may have other problems and still require resources.”

Hospitals are bracing for what they anticipate will be the “increased flow of patients” to come in the coming weeks as a direct result of the large number of cases over the New Year period, according to Dr. Damon Scales, chief of critical care at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center.

With files from Megan Ogilvie and Ivy Mak.