Kingston hospitals struggle with huge influx of COVID-19 care
Global News
The top doctors from all three eastern Ontario health units, and the head of KHSC, are pleading with the community to follow COVID-19 guidelines as hospitals get overwhelmed.
Three medical officers of health from eastern Ontario, and the head of Kingston’s largest hospital, are urging their local communities to help slow the rise in COVID-19 to take pressure off the health-care system.
“For the last several weeks, Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) has regularly had the highest number of COVID-19 inpatients and COVID intensive care unit patients of all Ontario hospitals,” a joint letter said Tuesday.
The letter was signed by Dr. Piotr Oglaza, medical officer of health for KFL&A Public Health; Dr. Ethan Toumishey, acting medical officer of health for Hastings, Prince Edward Public Health; Dr. Paula Stewart, medical officer of health for Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit; and Dr. David Pichora, president and CEO of KHSC.
KHSC has dedicated 80 of about 500 of its acute care beds to COVID-related care, including patients on ventilators, active and recovered cases and people in quarantine. The hospital organization is also dealing with a record-high number of non-COVID critical care patients.
Kingston hospitals are the largest service providers for all three local health units. All three regions are dealing with a massive influx of COVID-19 cases, more than ever seen in eastern Ontario over the course of the pandemic.
With 618 active cases as of Friday, KFL&A has been hit extremely hard by the fourth wave. HPEPH is dealing with 203 active cases while LGL has 143 active cases.
With the confirmed spread of Omicron in the KFL&A region, health-care providers are expecting the situation to worsen.
KHSC has already transferred some critically ill patients to other hospitals due to the massive demand locally, and is currently looking into other measures to alleviate the “mounting pressure” on the system.
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