Last Updated: Feb 4, 2021 4:56 PM
The South Bruce Grey Health Centre facility at Chesley. (supplied image)
It’s going to be a while before the Chesley Hospital Emergency Department is back to a 24-hour operation.
The Chesley ER is open from 8am to 8pm and closed from 8pm to 8am a situation they were forced into in 2019 because of lack of personnel.
The President & CEO of South Bruce Grey Health Centre Michael Barrett says the department will not revert to a 24-hour operation until they have enough nurses to cover the night shifting.
Barrett says they need between 1-2 registered nurses and between 1-2 registered practical nurses before opening the doors at night.
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Last Updated: Jan 13, 2021 1:57 AM
Bayshore News File Photo
Grey Bruce’s three local hospital organizations issued a joint statement on Tuesday cautioning the movement of patients between sites has the potential to be much larger than normal in the coming weeks, as the provincial hospital system is expected to face significant capacity challenges due to Covid.
Ontario health officials released updated Covid-19 modeling projections Tuesday, forecasting Intensive Care Unit occupancy in the province’s hospitals could exceed 500 in the days ahead, and potentially 1,000 in February in “more severe, but realistic scenarios.”
The joint-statement from Grey Bruce Health Services, South Bruce Grey Health Centre and Hanover and District Hospital explains the forecast shows the number of both medicine and critical care beds required later this month and in February may exceed the bed capacity of all hospitals in Ontario.
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Grey-Bruce hospitals are preparing to support a “seamless provincial hospital system” and respond to capacity challenges due to surging COVID-19 numbers throughout Ontario according to a joint media release distributed Tuesday.
It means that in the coming days and weeks Grey-Bruce residents requiring hospital care may be admitted to a hospital that is not in their home community.
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And, when transferred back from a larger hospital to continue their recovery, depending on capacity at that time, patients may be transferred to another hospital site that is not necessarily a home hospital site.
OWEN SOUND, ONT. Grey Bruce Health Services confirmed the field hospital at the Bayshore Community Centre in Owen Sound will remain open for the foreseeable future. The province directed the health unit to open the field hospital back in April to help with hospital capacity should COVID-19 cases overwhelm the region. Grey Bruce currently has four people infected with the virus in the hospital. To date, the 75-bed mobile unit has remained empty. The hospital also has 20 additional beds if needed. Meanwhile, Grey Bruce Health Services, Hanover and District and South Bruce Grey Health Centre joined forces to issue an urgent plea for residents to follow public health guidelines to slow the transmission.