Hamilton hospitals brace for winter illness surge on an overwhelmed system

Health care leaders in Hamilton are sounding the alarm on an expected surge in COVID-19, flu, and RSV cases this winter that they say will put more strain on an already overwhelmed system.

In a press conference Thursday, officials addressed the intense strain as they say hospitals and other service areas are operating at more than 100 per cent capacity already.

“This means that when patients arrive at our emergency department and need to be admitted to a hospital bed, it may take us some time to find a bed for them….that creates what we call gridlock in our hospital.” says Cheryl Williams of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.

Juravinski Hospital is funded for 391 beds, with a total bed capacity of 422. On several days this week, the hospital has treated more than 480 inpatients.

Its emergency department is equipped to care for 80 patients per day, however, it has routinely seen more than 100 patients daily.

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Hamilton’s Medical Officer of Health Elizabeth Richardson says that COVID-19 transmissions are stable but the city is beginning to see an uptick in wastewater signals and test positivity.

There are 12 active COVID-19 outbreaks in the city as of Tuesday.

Similar to other parts of the province, Hamilton is seeing an increase in RSV, a respiratory illness that can be serious for infants and seniors.

Health officials say there are individual steps the public can take such as staying up to date on COVID-19 and flu shots, washing their hands regularly and staying home when feeling sick.

Earlier this year the provincial government passed Bill 60 which transitioned some public healthcare services into privately run clinics to improve patient wait times, but thus far the positive impact hasn’t been felt.

“We have no reason to believe that’s having any effect on the system right now,” says Sharon Pierson of Hamilton Health Sciences.

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