Hamilton hospitals already full as Omicron surges
Hamilton's hospitals have no ability to open up more wards or intensive-care unit beds as the number of COVID patients is increasing exponentially.
We have very limited capacity left to take on significant new numbers of patients," said Rob MacIsaac, CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS). We're currently operating over capacity ... across the whole of the city."
He warned repeatedly at a city briefing Tuesday that the system is under strain."
As additional people show up ... it will increasingly strain our ability to deliver quality care to the patients who arrive," he said. The staffing ratios to patients will continue to deteriorate. We are very concerned by where we are today and the outlook."
Hamilton's hospitals face three significant challenges: worsening staff shortages, increasing numbers of COVID patients and a record amount of ongoing outbreaks.
We are deeply concerned about what lies ahead for us over the next few weeks," said Melissa Farrell, CEO of St. Joseph's Healthcare. We're seeing the exponential growth."
She went on to say, If we're getting asked to create more ICU beds, more capacity, I don't think we have the ability to do that at this point in time."
HHS and St. Joseph's had a combined total of 742 hospital staff self-isolating Tuesday.
We're managing ... but it's really tough on the teams," said Farrell. To be completely clear, that has been rapidly increasing."
To compare, the number of isolating staff at St. Joseph's was up to 223 on Tuesday from 143 on Dec. 31 and 28 on Dec. 22. None were isolating the week of Dec. 20.
The rapid rise in the staff cases is a clear indicator of just how quickly the Omicron variant is spreading," said Farrell. It's prevalent in our community and it's obviously prevalent among our health-care workers."
Burlington's Joseph's Brant Hospital was also experiencing significant pressures on hospital occupancy and staffing," said CEO Eric Vandewall in a message to the community Monday.
Joseph Brant had 238 workers self-isolating Monday - 166 of them with COVID symptoms. The hospital was losing an average of 50 to 70 staff a day to self-isolation. It's on top of a 9.4 per cent staff shortage that existed before Omicron.
At the same time, area hospitals are facing exponential growth" in the number of admitted COVID patients.
While Omicron causes less severe illness, the sheer number of infections more than makes up for it.
Hamilton's hospitals were caring for 220 COVID patients Tuesday - 33 of them in intensive care.
To compare, St Joseph's was up to 74 admitted COVID patients Tuesday from 56 on Dec. 31 and 10 on Dec. 22.
This particular variant has really been a game changer," said MacIsaac. We are seeing challenges both with increasing numbers of patients and staff infected by the virus."
Hamilton's hospitals were already facing significant overcrowding issues before the wave of Omicron infections hit, with ambulance bays used for treatment at Juravinski Hospital during a 24-hour period that included Dec. 15 and 16.
This time of year can be very challenging for hospitals even without a pandemic and this year is no exception," said MacIsaac." We are seeing lots of illness in the community quite apart from COVID ... The result is we see very high volumes in our EDs (emergency departments) including an extraordinary number of patients arriving by ambulance."
Adding to the strain is a record number of ongoing outbreaks at Hamilton's hospitals. The city reported 13 on Tuesday morning - seven at HHS and six at St. Joseph's.
By the afternoon briefing, MacIsaac said HHS was up to eight calling the COVID outbreaks a very challenging situation to manage."
We're imploring the community to follow current public health advice," said MacIsaac. Our hospital system really needs the public - as weary as the public is - to pay attention and observe the new stricter and more necessary measures that were brought forward by the province."
Joanna Frketich is a health reporter at The Spectator. jfrketich@thespec.com