With the Ontario government re-instating a pause all non-emergent and non-urgent surgeries and procedures, a number of Hamilton-area hospitals have begun a shift in care strategies to offset rising Omincron variant COVID-19 cases.
As of Jan. 3, three area hospital networks say the pressure is on in local wards with patient admissions up and more than 100 staffers off work and in isolation with COVID symptoms.
In a town hall just before the Christmas break, executive vice president and chief operating officer Sharon Pierson characterized the staffing situation at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) as “precarious” due to a significant number of staff cases.
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“You are all well aware we have precarious staffing situations across all our sites with the impact of the outbreaks and our staff and exposure to family members as well,” Pierson told employees in a briefing on Dec. 23.
Of HHS’ estimated 13,000 employees close to 500 are not at work and are isolating with COVID symptoms as of Tuesday. The network is also struggling with seven outbreaks tied to 87 total cases with 28 staffers affected.
St. Joe’s has 143 workers in isolation and Joseph Brant in Burlington reported close to 240 as of Jan. 4.
The president and CEO of Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington revealed in a release on Monday that an additional 72 workers were awaiting test results.
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Eric Vandewall said, on average, the network is seeing between 50 and 70 workers entering isolation daily due to COVID and “seasonal illnesses” contributing to an increase in staff sick calls.
“Prior to Omicron, the hospital was already operating with a 9.4 per cent staff shortage,” Vandewall said.
The hospital chief says an increase in emergency department visits is also creating “unprecedented pressure” on the network.
“There is a 30 per cent increase in the number of people coming to our Emergency Department (ED) for care as compared to December 2020,” said Vandewall.
On Monday, premier Doug Ford and health minister Christine Elliott announced a ramp-down of procedural and scheduled surgical care across the province, effective immediately.
CEO of Ontario Health Matt Anderson said an average of about 8,000 to 10,000 surgeries per week will be impacted by the pause.
The province estimates close to 50,000 new daily COVID cases would equate to around 500 hospital admissions per day – greater than the peak daily hospitalizations of 265 per day from last spring, when hospitals suffered amid the third wave of the pandemic.
“The evidence tells us that about one per cent of people who get Omicron will end up in the hospital,” Ford said. “Our public health experts tell us we could see hundreds of thousands of cases every single day. One per cent of hundreds of thousands is too many new patients for our hospitals to handle.”
The scientific director for Ontario’s COVID-19 science table told 900 CHML’s Bill Kelly Show the current challenge tracking the infectious Omicron variant surrounds the province’s current limitations in testing.
As of January, Ontario only has the ability to diagnose about 100,000 cases per day which roughly equates to finding maybe one in five actual COVID cases, according to Dr. Peter Juni.
“It could even be less than that we detect, and that is shows you the challenges we have,” said Juni.
Vandewall said the ramp-down will allow Joseph Brant to redeploy staff into units that need additional staffing to continue urgent and emergent surgeries, including cancer procedures.
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The CEO also urged those who think they have COVID to avoid hospital emergency departments, if possible.
“If you have mild COVID-19 symptoms, you do not need to come to the ED,” Vandewall said.
“Coming to the ED risks exposing vulnerable people to the virus. Please call your primary care provider or TeleHealth Ontario for advice on managing mild COVID-19 symptoms at home.”
The three Hamilton-area hospitals have a combined 217 COVID patients as of Jan. 4, up 38 day over day. There are 29 people in intensive care units (ICUs).
Public Health Ontario reported another day-over-day increase in hospital admissions by 58, equating to a total of 1,290 in hospital wards as of Tuesday, with more than 260 in ICUs.
Juni says being “breathless” during normal activities is a “good red flag” in deciding whether a COVID sufferer should contemplate getting help from a health care provider and potentially a trip to a hospital.
“If you basically walk … and start to be breathless, you can’t walk the stairs as normal, that’s the moment when you need to seek help,” Juni said.
Hamilton reporting over 6,600 active COVID cases, 13 outbreaks in hospitals
Hamilton public health added another 417 reported COVID cases to the 35,000-plus tracked since the pandemic began.
More than 6,649 active cases are on the city’s status report as of Tuesday, up 189 day over day.
The seven day average number of cases dropped slightly day over day to 708 from 717 as of Jan. 4.
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Close to 75 per cent of Hamilton’s reported active cases are in people under age 50, while 44 per cent of infected individuals are between the ages of 20 to 39.
One more COVID-related death was recorded in the city over the last two days, a person over 80. At least 64 per cent of the city’s deaths tied to COVID have been among people over 80.
Of the 51 outbreaks being revealed by public health, 127 of the 320 total cases reported are tied to 13 surges at city hospitals.
HHS has 87 of the cases with 58 tied to patients, St. Joe’s has 31 COVID patients out of its 40 cases as of Tuesday.
More than 100 cases have been associated with 20 ongoing outbreaks at homes containing seniors since Dec. 24, 60 tied to residents.
Five new outbreaks at three long-term care homes and a pair of retirement homes were added to the list on Monday.
The city has no reported outbreaks among city schools having declared the last of the five outbreaks in the fall semester over on Saturday.
In the last 14 days, there have been 76 new COVID cases reported between the two public boards. All of the infections are with the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB), with 57 among students and staff in elementary schools.
There are no active cases with the Catholic board (HWCDSB).
Close to 79% of eligible Hamiltonians fully vaccinated
Hamilton’s health partners administered at least 7,500 vaccine doses on Monday, a slight increases in shots compared with the same day a week ago when about 7,499 doses were given.
Close to 45,000 doses have been administered over the past seven days, which is up from the estimated 44,000 given out the seven days before.
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As of Monday, 79.6 per cent of eligible Hamiltonians aged five and up have been fully vaccinated while 84.7 per cent have had at least a single dose.
About 86 per cent of residents aged 12-plus have had at a pair of shots, while about 88.6 per cent have had at least one.
The city is still behind the provincial average, which has 88.2 per cent of those 12-plus fully vaccinated and 90.9 per cent with at least a single dose.
More than 90 per cent of those aged 60-plus in the city are fully vaccinated.
Excluding kids aged five to 11, Hamiltonians in the 18-to-24 age group represent the lowest vaccination rates of those eligible in the community at just over 78 per cent fully vaccinated.