Capacity at Bluewater Health is gradually rising again, but the hospital is again urging residents not to be afraid to seek emergency and urgent care when needed.
Chief of Staff Dr. Mike Haddad said the hospital noticed a significant drop in occupancy and emergency department visits in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"During the height of the surge, in early April our visits to the ER went down to half at 50 per cent capacity and occupancy at the hospital was down to 55 per cent," said Haddad. "We're up to 73 per cent and the ER visits have gone up to roughly 80 per cent of what they used to be. So I think people are feeling more comfortable coming back again to seek medical attention at the hospital."
Dr. Haddad said holding off on getting checked out for serious symptoms could lead to worse outcomes in the future.
"Someone who is having heart attack symptoms, for example, chest pain or can't breathe, or exacerbation of their asthma or COPD, or having stroke symptoms, they can't move an arm or limb or can't speak. Patients like this should not be delaying their care and should come to the hospital," he said.
Dr. Haddad said the hospital is clean, and other patients shouldn't worry about contracting the virus.
He said when patients come in they get a mask, the hospital is cleaned all the time and is spotless, and staff is more cautious and is using personal protective equipment.
Some staff were encouraged to take time off when capacity at the hospital dropped to nearly half.
Only six full -time employees are currently on leave, two of which are for childcare purposes.