It will be different than what patients are use to, but hospitals in London and St. Thomas are moving forward with the gradual resumption of clinical services, including elective surgeries put off due to COVID-19.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), St. Joseph’s Health Care London, and the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital have put together plans to reintroduce non-essential services in a scaled approach with prioritization based on need.
“LHSC has been working with our regional partners to keep safety at the heart of our developing strategy to gradually and safely expand clinical services,” said Neil Johnson, acting president and CEO of LHSC. “The expansion of hospital services is being carefully considered and balanced with the need to maintain capacity in the event of any surge in COVID-19 cases.”
Patients will be contacted directly by their physician's office about rescheduling procedures. However, when they arrive for the in-person appointments, the experience within the hospital will not be the same as it was prior to the pandemic.
“When they visit, patients and families will have a different experience than they might anticipate,” said Dr. Adam Dukelow, LHSC’s chief medical officer. “This includes screening at our doors, physical distancing measures, visitor policies, and changes to some of our processes as we strive to keep everyone safe.”
St. Joseph’s and the St. Thomas hospital will also continue screening all patients and visitors for COVID-19 at entrances, handing out masks to be worn at all times in the facility, and maintaining physical distancing requirements. It is recommended patients allow an extra 15 minutes for screening before their appointment check-in time.
Visitor restrictions remain in place as well. The hospitals have stated patients should keep in mind their support person could be asked to wait outside of the building.
Hospital officials have warned the return of non-essential and elective procedures does not mean hospitals will be immediately back to full services.
"As we are still in a pandemic, it may be some time before St. Joseph’s can fully open all services, which will require ongoing patience by our patients," St. Joseph's said in a statement. "Many patients will, unfortunately, continue to experience delays in receiving a face-to-face appointment."
The St. Thomas hospital also indicated it will take "many months" to fully return to normal.
In the meantime, many physicians will continue to offer virtual appointments. Thousands of patients in London have already been taking advantage of the remote visits on a weekly basis.
The Ontario government ordered all hospitals to postpone all non-emergency surgeries in mid-March to free up resources to deal with a possible surge of COVID-19 cases. A study with ties to Western University estimated nearly 400,000 surgeries in Canada and more than 28-million worldwide would be cancelled as a result of the pandemic. It went on to state it could take Canada 11 months to clear the surgical backlog.