The Chatham hospital is getting extra beds this year to deal with a possible surge of the flu.
Chatham-Kent Health Alliance CEO Lori Marshall told reporters on Monday during a media update that 25 beds are coming this year instead of the usual five beds to deal with a potential surge in flu cases.
Marshall also said the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is currently not overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients but is preparing just in case it does. She said there are 10 ICU beds with another 12 beds in another unit for crash and heart attack patients which is slightly less intensive and has no ventilators. Marshall said the extra beds will alleviate the backlog of surgeries seen in wave one of the pandemic. Marshall said the 20 extra beds are regional assets and not just for Chatham-Kent patients.
"Acknowledges that this is a very different year with the pandemic [and] allows us to continue with our surgical operations while we may be surging in the medical area," said Marshall. "In the event that any of our neighbouring hospitals needed access to additional beds because of something that may be happening in their community, then we will work with them to see how it is that we can support them."
Board Chair Greg Aarssen said training and exercises done in wave one has given hospital staff more experience and confidence to handle wave two of the pandemic.
"Management had all staff, physicians had all staff very, very well prepared for wave one. They are equally prepared for wave two should that happen," said Aarssen.
Marshall also said the hospital is ready for a surge in the second wave of COVID-19. She said the hospital has reviewed staffing levels and many of the pandemic protocols established in wave one, such as an assessment centre and protective personal equipment guidelines, are already in place to allow staff to jump into action quickly. However, Marshall said having a practice run under their belt in wave one of the pandemic doesn't make it any easier for her staff.
She said the stress of a second wave remains "very real" because health care professionals don't know what's coming through the doors. Marshall added working in personal protective equipment all day is "very fatiguing." She also said it doesn't matter where patients come from, even if they're from out of town, because precautionary protocols already exist to deal with transfer patients.
Marshall added a total of three staff members of the 1,400 at the hospitals have been infected over the past eight months and there have been no outbreaks at the hospitals. On Monday, Chatham-Kent Public Health reported one less active case of COVID-19 for a total of 17.
Local public health officials said there is a new COVID-19 patient in the hospital, eight new cases, and nine recovered individuals. The school outbreak at Winston Churchill Public School and two of the three workplace outbreaks have also been declared over.