The prospect of accepting hospital patients from the Greater Toronto Area is no longer a possibility, but a reality.
Chatham-Kent EMS General Manager Donald MacLellan said on Twitter that local paramedics performed their first inter-facility transfer Monday night from Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga to the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA).
"As Ontario Health continues to build capacity in various hospitals, CK EMS is helping do their part in transferring patients to hospitals in the Erie St. Clair region," read the tweet.
In an interview with Blackburn News, MacLellan said paramedics will remain on standby in case additional transfers are warranted, adding the situation changes "day-to-day" and from "hour-to-hour."
"It's just a matter of being prepared and being on standby for when those requests come in," he said. "We don't necessarily know the details of how many and when but we're certainly ready and working alongside our partner with the [CKHA] as well as our regional hospital and paramedic service partners in the Erie St. Clair area."
MacLellan said the transfer of patients from one hospital to another is a collaborative effort that involved many different services.
"Our paramedic service along with many other services across the province are working very closely with hospitals in the GTA," he said. "It is a bit of a collaborative effort when it comes to patients being sent to CKHA and other hospitals [as well as] coordinating the transportation needs for these patients. That involves a variety of resources such as Ornge if a patient is critical or more acute stable patients can be transported by local paramedic services."
MacLellan said Chatham-Kent is currently doing well in terms of cases, which puts the region in a position to help other parts of the province, such as the GTA.
"Capacity issues and the occupancy rates are much much higher with much sicker patients in those hospitals in that part of the province," he said. "We have the capacity to assist those hospitals and we have the resources to assist and be a partner in moving those patients."
A statement from the CKHA said as of noon Tuesday, its ICU occupancy was at 50 per cent capacity (five of ten beds are occupied). There are two COVID-19 positive patients in a local hospital -- one is a Chatham-Kent resident and one is from outside of the municipality.
Some non-urgent and elective surgeries were recently put on hold again at the CKHA and hospitals across the province in order to free up capacity. CKHA President and CEO Lori Marshall posted on Twitter Tuesday morning and said, "It is our duty and moral obligation to help our neighbours". The statement from the CKHA on Tuesday also noted that "like all hospitals across Ontario, beds at CKHA are a provincial asset."
It is our duty and moral obligation to help our neighbours. Proud of our staff & physicians at CKHA. Please do your part to help us weather this third wave. https://t.co/6OLULA2YVa
— Lori Marshall (@LoriBMarshall) April 20, 2021
MacLellan said he is proud of the paramedics who have stepped up during this pandemic.
"I can never say enough about how dedicated and committed they are to protecting themselves, protecting their patients, doing other things to which they have not been traditionally used to," said MacLellan. "We've been deeply involved in a variety of COVID initiatives whether it be COVID testing throughout various means in the community and being a big partner in delivering the vaccine in various settings."
Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby said assisting those in hot spot regions is a "noble" thing to do.
"We need to make sure that there are enough facilities to handle our sick. That has been the whole purpose of getting our COVID-19 numbers under control," said Colby.
As of Tuesday, Ontarians who are 40 years of age and older are eligible to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Colby said, unlike pharmacies, primary care providers offering the vaccine are supplied through the local Public Health Unit.
"The vaccine comes to us and then we send it to them similar to the way the flu vaccine works so that kind of rollout has been well established with lots of experience," said Colby. "The difficulty has been so many changes in regard to the AstraZeneca vaccine but it is certainly safer to get that vaccine than to just wait and get COVID."
There are currently three pharmacies in Chatham-Kent offering the AstraZeneca vaccine, they include the Shoppers Drug Mart at 420 Queen Street in Chatham, the Rexall at 401 St. Clair Street in Chatham, and MacTavish Pharmacy at 480 St. George Street in Dresden.
Although Health Canada licensed the AstraZeneca shot for use in anyone over the age of 18, until recently Ontario had only offered the vaccine to people 55 and up based on a recommendation from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. However, the committee was scheduled to update said recommendation on Tuesday.
The Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit reported 38 active COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, unchanged from Monday, as one new case and one recovery was reported. Two workplace outbreaks and two school outbreaks, at A.A. Wright Public School in Wallaceburg and Blenheim District High School, continue. One Chatham-Kent resident with COVID-19 also remains hospitalized. Approximately 27,730 residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine so far.
Across the province, 3,469 new COVID-19 infections were reported on Tuesday along with 22 more deaths. Ontario's Health Minister Christine Elliot said as of Monday night, 3,995,187 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.