A new COVID clinic in Hamilton and virtual care aim to take pressure off hospitals
A COVID clinic is expected to open soon in Hamilton as virtual care ramps up to take pressure off overloaded emergency departments.
Family doctors - not hospitals - should be the first place those with COVID turn, an upcoming public awareness campaign will stress.
Those without access to primary care can also turn to a virtual urgent care centre at UrgentCareOntario.ca that is affiliated with St. Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) and London Health Sciences Centre. It runs Monday to Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and can also be accessed at 1-844-227-3844.
Those who need an extra level of care will also have a virtual option instead of going to Hamilton's increasingly overcrowded hospitals. A virtual COVID ward will see primary-care staff check on patients sick at home and advise them for five to 14 days. The patients can be referred from family doctors, telehealth, emergency departments or the virtual urgent care.
Only those who need to be seen in person will be sent to a new COVID clinic opening Wednesday at the Charlton Campus of St. Joseph's Healthcare. The outpatient clinic is part of a major effort to keep patients out of hospitals as the system is pushed to the brink by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
Hamilton hospitals have seen daily COVID admissions rapidly rise since December with forecasting predicting the number will double to quadruple as the fifth wave peaks over the next few weeks.
Hospitalizations are among the only reliable ways to measure the pandemic as cases are significantly underestimated due to drastic changes in testing Dec. 31. The general public has been advised to no longer seek tests and instead assume cold and flu symptoms are COVID.
Despite most cases going undiagnosed, the city still has a daily average increase of 568 cases. The highest this metric reached before Omicron was 180 on April 20.
Hamilton had a record 74 active outbreaks Monday despite many no longer being reported as public health shifts focus to high-risk settings. More than one-quarter of outbreaks reported increased in cases, including the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre which is up to 44 infections.
The per cent of tests coming back positive hit a high of more than 31 per cent - from seven per cent at the height of the third wave.
The focus right now ... is on blunting the wave to preserve care capacity for all who require it," Hamilton's medical officer of health, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, told the city's board of health Monday. There is not going to be any way to stop this wave to the extent that we had with prior waves. What we are trying to do ... is spread out the number of cases so that hospitalization and ICUs can be preserved for those who need it for COVID but also those, of course, who need it for other things."
The best weapon is vaccination, with the city redeploying staff from libraries, museums, recreation and even fire departments to ramp up clinics. The Centre on Barton set a record of 2,747 doses administered on Jan. 6 - just beating out the 2,732 given out July 1 at the FirstOntario Centre.
However, overall demand has slowed since the city gave out more than 10,000 doses a day on both Dec. 21 and 22. The current daily average is about 8,000 shots.
Fewer than 45 per cent of those eligible have received their boosters despite 30,000 appointments currently being available on the city's booking system.
Seniors have the best uptake, with 70 per cent of those age 75 and older having their third dose. The goal is at least 90 per cent.
Overall, third shots account for over 90 per cent of the vaccines administered each day.
The lack of first and second doses raises questions about the uptake among those age five to 11, which is lagging in Hamilton at 41 per cent with one shot compared to the province's nearly 47 per cent.
It's one we look at with concern," said Richardson. The rates have slowed - they slowed right after the first couple of weeks when we opened up to vaccinations in that group."
Of the 16,800 first doses given to kids in this age group so far, over 9,200 were administered in the first two weeks of eligibility from Nov. 25 to Dec. 8.
Public health is trying to jump-start doses for kids, especially before school is planned to go back in person Jan. 17, by allowing drop ins without appointments at the Centre on Barton and CF Lime Ridge.
In addition, the province opened a clinic dedicated to education and childcare workers at the Centre on Barton. Appointments are through the provincial portal at covid-19.ontario.ca/book-vaccine.
All other Hamilton appointments are through the city's booking tool at hamilton.ca/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccination.
Hamilton has one active outbreak in a daycare centre for the first time in weeks.
Of the 74 ongoing outbreaks, 30 are in seniors' homes including the largest at the Wellington Nursing Home on the central Mountain, where 58 have tested positive since Dec. 24. There is also a large outbreak at Heritage Green Nursing Home in Stoney Creek, where 50 have been infected since Jan. 5.
Group homes, communal and assisted living account for 19 of the outbreaks, while shelters have six ongoing. Hamilton's hospitals have a record 16 outbreaks at once, while there are two in jails.
Joanna Frketich is a health reporter at The Spectator. jfrketich@thespec.com