Bluewater Health is operating so far below capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic that it's encouraging some staff to take time off.
Chief of Communications and Public Affairs Julia Oosterman said at the beginning of the outbreak they were asked by the province to try to empty the hospital as much as possible to guard against being overwhelmed by a potential patient surge.
The cancellation of elective surgeries, procedures and clinics have the 300-bed hospital running at 55 to 60 per cent capacity.
Now in the seventh week of the pandemic, Oosterman said their high of 32 confirmed COVID-19 patients has dropped to about a dozen.
"The good story is, we're doing such a good job of fighting COVID, the bad story is there's not a lot of hours necessarily for all the different departments," said Oosterman. "So some people are seeing that as a blessing and some not so much so, it's really about individual perspective."
Oosterman said 22 staff have been impacted so far.
"No one is going on mandatory leave of absence, it is voluntary and that's kind of where we sit right now."
She said some staff asked for a leave of absence, some asked to use up accrued vacation and some part-time staff opted to not have any hours until the hospital ramps back up.
"And that's important for two reasons," she said. "First of all it saves us in PPE [personal protective equipment] and keeps our staff healthy and safe, but it also ensures that we have healthy human resources should we hit a second wave."
Oosterman said they're trying to look at individual situations because it's difficult trying to balance over-working with not having the opportunity to pay your mortgage.
-With files from Melanie Irwin