COVID-19: Hospital Managers Insist Hamiltonians ‘Seek’ Other Options When It’s Not an Emergency – Hamilton | The Canadian News

Managers of Hamilton’s two city hospital networks have sent a message to residents seeking non-urgent medical care: look for other options before considering an emergency visit.

As the current COVID-19 wave fueled by the Omicron variant continues, Hamilton Health Sciences’ president has encouraged individuals with conditions that do not require immediate medical attention to reach out to a family doctor or use an online method of care .

“There are a number of healthcare options available in the community, which will strongly encourage our people to search before coming to an emergency department,” Rob MacIsaac, president and CEO of HHS, said Tuesday in the city’s COVID printer said.

Both HHS and St. Joseph’s Healthcare reported overall occupancy rates of more than 100 percent and just under 100 on January 18 with full ICUs.

“The truth is, the next few weeks at St. Joe’s will still be some of the most challenging we experienced during the pandemic,” said Melissa Farrell, president of St. Joe’s. Joe’s, said.

“We really feel the impact of the high community transfer more than ever.”

Another recent concern is the number of patients entering a hospital without COVID, only to discover through tests that they actually do.

Farrell said about 60 percent of their current 93 COVID patients actually came in because they believed they had the infection. The rest did not.

Rob MacIsaac, president and CEO of HHS, revealed that just under 40 percent of their current 217 COVID cases were recorded due to the suspicion that they had the condition.

The hospitals have a combined 41 COVID patients in ICUs as of January 15th. HHS has the majority of cases at 26.

“Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated patients still make up an excessive number of patients at HHS,” MacIsaac said.

“There are very high occupancy levels across our hospital system. Our ICU is completely full at 101 percent of our funded beds. ”

Ontario reported a record 4,183 people in hospital with COVID as of Tuesday, and just over half of them were initially admitted due to virus complications, with 580 in ICUs.

Staff are also still having an issue with Farrell revealing that St. Joe’s more than 700 staff members tested positive for COVID.

“The situation for time-sensitive, urgent and emergency care is uncertain, in fact due to the great demand for critical care and beds for acute care,” Farrell said.

“Last week, it really felt like the problem was more related to our healthcare workers.”

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Nearly 170 of St. Joe’s estimated 5,700 workers are currently separate for COVID by Tuesday afternoon, with HHS having just over 490 of 13,000 in the same situation.

About a third have been linked to 17 ongoing hospital-related outbreaks involving 184 cases across the system as of January 18th. HHS has 12 increases linked to about 130 cases, while St. Joe’s has five that involve 53 people.

Dr. Scott Wooder, chief physician at Hamilton’s Family Health Team, says this is not the time to go to a hospital unless one believes they are having a heart attack, stroke or struggling to breathe.

“For many mild illnesses or mild symptoms of COVID, we can actually look after ourselves at home without any help from any doctor or nurse,” Wooder said.

“We have all done this for years, and nothing has changed because of COVID.”

The online option that drivers have recommended to check before a potential visit to a hospital or clinical site is neovacances.ca or urgentcareontario.ca

Hamilton reported that 96 institutional COVID-19 outbreaks have been underway since Tuesday, linking about 1,270 cases.

Nearly 650 of them have been linked to 40 residences in homes containing seniors, including 466 in 24 long-term care homes (LTCH) and 190 in 16 nursing homes. Just over half of the estimated 650 cases are in health care workers.

Two long-term care homes report a link with about 150 of the infections – 89 with Heritage Green Nursing Home in Stoney Creek and 63 with The Wellington on the Mountain.

An outbreak in the city’s primary prison, the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Center, continued to grow from 73 to 81 day-to-day. Cases essentially doubled week after week from 44 last Tuesday to 81 from 18 January.

Just over 50 of the cases were linked to prisoners.

The outbreak numbers may represent only part of the picture in the city since public health stopped reporting COVID-19 outbreaks in workplaces that are not linked to high-risk institutions such as hospitals and community institutions.

There have been six upheavals linked to about 130 cases in the city’s shelter system, while about 180 have been linked to support homes.

Three deaths related to COVID infections – all individuals in their 70s – were added Tuesday to the city’s two-year pandemic total of 437.

As of January 18, the city had in the arms of approximately 1.15 million doses of COVID vaccine with approximately 454,000 second visits and 247,000 third shots.

More than 80.9 percent of qualifying Hamiltonians aged five and older had multiple doses, while 86.1 percent received at least one shot.

About 86.8 percent of 12-plus residents had at least two injections, while about 89.5 percent had a first dose.

The city is still behind the provincial average, which has 88.7 percent of the 12-plus with two doses and 91.4 percent with a single dose.

Third-dose immunization is at 43.5 percent – more than 5.6 million Ontarians received a booster shot.

More than 93 percent of the 60-plus age group in the city had two shots, while more than 62 percent of that age group had a booster.

With the exception of children aged five to 11, Hamiltonians in the age group of 12 to 24 represent the lowest vaccination rates of those eligible in the community with just over 80 percent having had a few doses.

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