A day after a warning from healthcare leaders in Windsor-Essex that local hospitals were running out of space, Windsor Regional Hospital is being forced to transfer some patients out of the city.
"We anticipate as many as 20 patients may require transfer this week to our partners at Chatham-Kent Health Alliance and Bluewater Health in Sarnia," read a release from the hospital.
On Monday, the hospital admitted 74 patients who tested positive for COVID-19. That is almost three times as many as the previous record set during the first wave of the pandemic last May when 27 patients were admitted in a single day.
As many as 20 of those patients will need treatment in the critical care units. With many people already admitted there with non-COVID-related illnesses, units at both campuses have reached capacity, and officials at the hospital do not expect the pressure to ease off any time soon.
Hospital capacity is constrained because COVID-19 positive patients need to be isolated. They can not share rooms with non-COVID patients. Last June, Ontario Health advised hospitals to "maximize the number of private and semi-private rooms with dedicated washrooms, using four-bed ward rooms as semi-private rooms when possible, ensuring a two-meter distance between beds."
Windsor Regional Hospital can not maintain those measures with current patient volumes.
"Our aging infrastructure can not accommodate safe, quality care for all of our patients given the recent surge in COVID-19 patients requiring admission," said Chief Nursing Executive and Chief Operating Officer Karen Riddell. "We know transferring patients out of Windsor-Essex is not ideal, and we understand this places challenges on patients and their loved ones. We hope to keep these transfers to a minimum."
Families of those who will be transferred will be notified.
Those who will be sent out of the region are not appropriate for care at the field hospital. The field hospital does not have the means to provide daily diagnostic imaging or ventilation.
Erie Shores Healthcare began transferring patients to Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare and the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance on December 31 because of its own staffing and space restraints.
"It is unfortunate that our local COVID-19 positive numbers and eventual predicted hospitalization has resulted in the need to make these transfers. However, with the age of our facilities and lack of 21st century infrastructure, we have no choice based on the safety of our community and the need to ensure Windsor Regional Hospital can continue to provide tertiary care to the region," continued Riddell.
The move on Tuesday follows measures announced last month to postpone all non-urgent, pre-scheduled elective surgeries for an indefinite period.