Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance says all four hospital sites are operating at over 100% capacity so elective surgeries are being postponed so staff can be reassigned.
President and CEO Andrew Williams says the level of activity is unprecedented and staff need to focus on the needs of current patients.
Overall across the system, acute care beds are at 117% occupancy.
As of January 9th, the Stratford General Hospital Emergency Department had 11 admitted patients waiting for an inpatient bed, while the Clinton Public Hospital, St. Marys Memorial Hospital and Seaforth Community Hospital were all over census at 21 inpatient beds.
“Clearly, we regret any impacts on patients and their families however with every bed in all HPHA sites already full, this situation does mean postponing some services and potentially longer wait times for patients in our Emergency Rooms,” adds Williams. “It also makes it harder to control the spread of infections, and puts added pressure on our Environmental Services Staff.”
“We ask those who do need to visit our Emergency Department to be patient”, adds Williams. “We know that this is the last place many people want to be. As always, we will see our sickest patients first and we are committed to providing timely, safe quality care to all our patients and their families.”