No influx in ICU patients at Waterloo region hospitals yet but 'capacity is very tight'

There has not yet been a large influx in patients in local hospital intensive care units, but staff at the three hospitals in Waterloo region are preparing just in case.

The hospitals in the region have not yet begun to accept patients from outside the community like they did during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But St. Mary's General Hospital president Lee Fairclough says ICU space is "very tight."

"St. Mary's needs to preserve some space for COVID patients and cardiac patients, given our status as the regional centre for cardiac care. We continue to monitor and plan for a surge," Fairclough said in an emailed statement.

"In the region we tend to feel the impact of COVID trends in neighbouring regions, like what is currently being experienced in the GTA, about two weeks later. We ask everyone to continue to follow public health measures to try to minimize the impacts and preserve hospital capacity."

Stephan Beckoff at Cambridge Memorial Hospital also says staff are poised to react if called upon.

"We are prepared to accept transfers of critical care patients should there be a need. At this time, we has not been any transfers to CMH from a hospital in the GTA," he said.

Grand River Hospital spokeperson Cheryl Evans says they are "are closely monitoring our volumes, as well as critical care provincial volumes/trends. We currently have no out of region patients in our ICU."