The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) has created a new team to help local long term care homes and retirement homes review their infection control practices to maintain clean and healthy spaces.
CKHA CEO Lori Marshall said the province wants hospitals to keep long term care and retirement homes safe during wave two of COVID-19 in case they get into trouble. Marshall emphasized it's not an inspection and said the new team will go into the facilities every month. Marshall said keeping seniors safe is a top priority.
"Provide them support and education if required and just give them that touchpoint so they know that there is support available to them in the event they need additional support from us," said Marshall. "So what they're doing is going in and meeting with the leadership there, reviewing that they have sufficient personal protective equipment."
Marshall said the new team started its initial monthly visits in November and is made up of CKHA and CK Public Health staff and could involve CK paramedics if swabbing is required.
"The hand hygiene, how they isolate patients and those sorts of things and just having a discussion with them and then seeing if they need or have identified any additional supports that they would like," Marshall said.
Chatham-Kent has seven long-term care homes and 12 retirement homes but there have been no outbreaks at any of them since the start of the pandemic.
Marshall also said 80 per cent of beds are occupied at the hospital, which is a 10 per cent jump from last week. She added surgical volumes are back to between 90 and 100 per cent after a huge backlog of cancelled surgeries in the first wave. Marshall added overall hospital volumes are at 90 per cent compared to 2019.
Vice President of Clinical Programs and Operations Caen Suni said CKHA is focusing on certain surgical procedures in the second wave until the end of March, including cancer, cataracts, tonsillectomies, and knee, hips and shoulders because those people have been waiting. He said extra surgery time will be added during the December and March Break holidays.