Kingston, ON – The Kingston Health Science Center (KHSC) has announced that new restrictions will be implemented amid rising COVID-19 cases in the region. Beginning November 15, KHSC will ask families to reduce the number of visitors for the remainder of the weekend when possible.
“To protect our patients, as well as our ability to care for the sickest people in the region, we must reduce the number of people accessing our hospital sites,” says Theresa MacBeth, Acting COVID-19 Incident Commander . “Not only is there an increased risk due to the increase in COVID cases in our community, we have also seen an increase in the number of patients entering the hospital as a result of COVID-19.”
Meanwhile, other friends and family outside of the registered visitor are being asked to use technologies to keep in touch with their loved ones.
“We understand that any reduction in visitor numbers is distressing for our patients and that visitors play a vital role in providing comfort and support to their loved ones,” says MacBeth. “But we must also ensure that we are protecting our ability to provide highly specialized acute care to the more than 500,000 people in our region who depend on our services. This change is necessary to protect our staff and patients as the current situation rapidly evolves in our community. “
KHSC says that in recent weeks, they have seen unprecedented COVID-free patient volumes in both the Kingston General Hospital (KGH) Emergency Department and the Hotel Dieu Hospital (HDH) Urgent Care Center. Inpatient units are also approaching capacity and KHSC is working with our partners throughout the region to transfer patients who no longer need the highly specialized care provided at the KGH site.
KHSC will continue to monitor this situation closely and will provide further updates as they become available. For more information on KHSC visitor and family presence restrictions, Visit our website.
Reference-ygknews.ca