Campbellford Memorial Hospital is experiencing 'unprecedented patient numbers'

Ontario hospitals areovercrowdedandseverely understaffed.

Campbellford Memorial Hospital (CMH), a small rural hospital southeast of Peterborough, is overwhelmed with capacity.

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Hospitals have seen more than 50 daily visits to the emergency department (ED) in recent months, peaking at more than 70 per day over the May long weekend. Did.

This represents an increase in hospital ED visits of more than 25% for him.

“Having more visits to the ED on holiday weekends is nothing new. No,” said Dr. Eshay Elia, Chief, “But what has changed in the last few months is that we have been busy almost every day.”

It's an urgent matter.”

At some point last week, CMH's 34-bed inpatient unit was operating at 141% capacity with 48 patients.

"We needed to repurpose areas of the hospital to accommodate our growing patient population," said Nicole Wood, Vice President of Patient Care and Chief Nursing Officer.

CMH had to temporarily convert a day surgery room into a hospital room. Plan to reuse other clinical areas as needed.

Several hospitals have had to close EDs, but CMH has only ever done it once. Had to do - ED closed night shift on December 24th due to lack of manpower.

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There is a shortage of staff across the state and they may be struggling to fill shifts. However, we are doing everything we can to prevent ED closures from happening," said Eric Hannah, the hospital's interim president and CEO.

Closure required If it does, the hospital is ready. Contingency plans include shutting down her blue H-lit sign, obscuring other signs, and alerting residents through social media channels and news media.

"We have plans in place with good local partners for EMS and nearby hospitals to minimize the impact on patient care should a closure become necessary," he said. he added Hanna.

Hanna notes that losing one or two of his health care workers on a given shift could lead to closure.

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Hospital Still Capital To redevelop into a “Campus of Care” model, including long-term care beds to replace the aging hospital built in the 1950s, awaiting planning grant approval.

"I know what I want," said Hannah. 'We just need government approval.'

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