HHS ramping down surgeries, procedures at McMaster Children’s Hospital

McMaster Children’s Hospital will be ramping down all “non urgent/non emergent” surgeries, procedures, diagnostic testing/imaging and ambulatory care.

CHCH News has obtained a memo that was sent to all staff Monday evening saying the decision was made due to COVID-19-related staffing issues.

“McMaster Children’s Hospital is not immune to the impacts of the pandemic, including severe healthcare worker shortages,” said Bruce Squires, president of the McMaster Children’s Hospital and VP, children’s and women’s health at HHS, in a statement to CHCH confirming the memo. “Based on provincial guidance, we are taking actions to prioritize care for patients with urgent and emergent needs. For some patients, this may mean having their scheduled surgeries or procedures postponed.”

Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) says a key factor in determining what can, and cannot get paused, is the impact of deferring care on patients’ developmental and mental health. The health provider says “urgent/emergent care” surgeries and procedures including pacemaker surgery, appendicitis or surgery and procedures following trauma or accidents are not affected.

“We know this causes anxiety and stress for patients and their families, and we empathize. Our team is working to notify them of any changes, and to support their care as best they can as we move forward,” added his statement.

According to the memo, staff is being redeployed not just at McMaster Children’s Hospital, but all children’s hospitals in the province as the entire health care field grapples with COVID-infected staff isolating at home.

As we reported during the Evening News, there are 759 Hamilton health care workers currently off the job due to Covid.

“This measure is necessary to ensure that we can keep providing urgent and emergent care and sustain essential regional programs,” reads the memo.

HHS says it hopes the ramp down will be short-lived.