Omicron in Ottawa: Some Ottawa Hospital patients transferred to gymnasium as part of emergency plans

The Ottawa Hospital’s emergency plan during the Omicron wave includes moving some patients to a gym at the Rehabilitation Center, CTV News has learned.

It comes as hospitals across the province face record numbers of COVID-19 patients.

Ontario set a pandemic record on Friday: 2,472 hospital patients across the province; a figure not only higher than the peak of wave three, but which comes at a time when the health care system is even more strained than it was in April.

“On Friday we were at about 115 percent of our capacity and I understand from members of my team for the union there that it got significantly worse over the weekend,” Rachel Muir, nurse registered at The Ottawa Hospital and president of the bargaining unit for the Ontario Nurses Association at the hospital.

Sixty-four Ottawa residents are hospitalized with COVID-19, including five in intensive care, according to Ottawa Public Health, but the number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 is much higher. Internal figures from The Ottawa Hospital show 126 COVID-positive patients there on Monday, including 13 in intensive care.

In a statement Friday, The Ottawa Hospital announced that it implement the next phase of their emergency plan, including increasing bed capacity, redeploying staff and adjusting the staffing model.

“In some cases, it can mean that patients are receiving care in unconventional spaces. These spaces are adjusted to ensure safety, comfort and patient experience, ”the hospital wrote in a statement.

The gymnasium is one of those unconventional spaces.

The Ottawa Hospital could not say how many additional beds the new measures would provide, but some healthcare workers fear this could pose more staffing issues.

“We are in a staffing crisis and adding more beds only makes it worse because we don’t have enough staff for the beds we have,” Muir said.

“It means higher patient ratios; So where nurses would normally take care of four or five patients, they will now take care of six, seven, eight patients, ”she added.

Along with staffing issues, Muir says the new emergency protocol will make it harder for nurses to do their jobs, tasked with caring for larger numbers of patients in areas that may be ill-equipped for the job. To do.

“You’re in spaces that aren’t meant to accommodate patients, so that means you have to bring things like oxygen cartridges if that’s what they need. You have to put in place other means for patients to contact you because you don’t have a ringing system, ”Muir said.

“You don’t have bathrooms, you don’t have showers, because these areas are not meant to accommodate patients, so anything that you would normally take for granted, you don’t have. It’s just inherently more difficult, ”she continued.

According to The Ottawa Hospital, between 125 and 135 staff are currently in isolation due to COVID-19. Ottawa Public Health has declared 20 outbreaks in city hospitals.

“It’s harder now than in the past and of course it’s harder now than ever, even before the COVID-19 era,” said infectious disease specialist Dr Isaac Bogoch.

Despite the rapid increase in hospitalizations across Ontario, the number of intensive care units in Ottawa has remained relatively stable, but those on the front lines argue that even lower numbers are still of concern.

“Even though it hasn’t reached a level never seen before, that doesn’t tell the whole story and the most important part of the story is who works there and how hard they work. “said Bogoch.

“Our ICU numbers, you’re right, they’re not as high as they used to be, but we don’t have that many nurses; so they’re as high as they were before when you look at the nurse-to-patient ratios, ”Muir added.

Bogoch says it’s hard to predict when Ontario hospitals will get a reprieve, but he hopes the situation could start to improve towards the end of the month.

“It’s hard to know when we’ll start to see the number of cases go down because we don’t really have a very specific description of what the real burden is in Ontario,” he said.