Latest COVID-19 wave causing 'most significant' staff shortages across Hamilton hospital sites

Hundreds of Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) staff and physicians are off work as a result of COVID infection or exposure, the hospital said Thursday.

HHS said on Twitterthe current situation is causing major staffing pressures, forcing it to postpone more surgeries and procedures.

"We are facing the most significant capacity pressures we've experienced since the pandemic began," HHS says. "Units across all of our sites are straining as a result of significant staff shortages."

According to HHS, bed occupancy is 110 per cent on average, more patients are waiting longer in the emergency departments to be admitted, and it's taking longer for ambulances to get back on the road.

Describing the issues as "heavy burdens," HHS says it's doing its best to protect the workforce and ensure patients get the care they need.

"As much as we want this to be over, it's not," wroteHHSChief Executive Officer Rob MacIsaacon Tuesday,citing several COVID-19 outbreaks across HHS sites.

HHS says it is responding as follows:

• Scheduled care activity has been reduced back to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic volumes similar to an announcement made by Niagara Health earlier this week for its surgical program.

• Patients who are medically suitable are being transferred to other sites to create capacity for patients with urgent needs. These settings include the Satellite Health Facility, St. Peter's Hospital, and other community settings like long-term care.

• Discharging patients sooner when it's safe to do so and offering virtual and remote care options to help patients manage their health at home and avoid emergency department visits.

• Collaborating with regional partners to balance demands across hospitals, using agency staffing resources, and maximizing opportunities provided by Clinical Extern program to hire third- and fourth-year students.

To help in the long term, HHS says it's enhancing its recruitment strategies in the context of a global nursing shortage. This includes building a "pipeline" to attract more people to the Clinical Extern program, and onboarding more internationally-trained professionals.

Other area hospitals, such as Norfolk General Hospital, have added measures such as visitor restrictions, as well this week.

COVID-19 infections in Hamilton could be stabilizing

Meanwhile, wastewater data suggests COVID-19 infections in Hamilton could be stabilizing at an elevated level, with the potential of decreasing, says Robert Delatolla, who leads the research into wastewater testing in Hamilton and other cities.

Delatolla says the most recent data points show a lack of continual increase.

"It's only the last three points that are now controlling that line and showing the trend of that line, so we have to be cautious about only a couple of days to kind of designate what's going to come out of it," Delatolla told CBC Hamilton.

"But those last three data points are much more encouraging than the previous week of data points, so in that respect, it could be an indicator of better things to come in terms of viral load in the community."