'Serious situation': Thunder Bay regional hospital planning for potential rise in COVID-19 patients

Thunder Bay regional hospital administration is preparing to ensure capacity is available to meet a potential surge in COVID-19 patients as the number of cases in the district continues to skyrocket.

As of Wednesday, the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre had 19 total patients admitted with COVID-19, with seven of those in the intensive care unit. The total number of patients is down slightly from earlier this week, when there were 22 positive cases in the hospital.

Hospital president and chief executive officer Rhonda Crocker Ellacott said the state of the region, with over 300 active cases in the Thunder Bay District, is a very serious situation.

"We've prepared for this time. We had an opportunity early last year in April, May to really get plans in place," Crocker Ellacott said. "Unfortunately we have to execute those plans at this point in time, but we're ready. We're prepared and we're managing."

The hospital reopened its dedicated COVID-19 unit, which had been shut down since July, earlier this month. The unit initially started with 13 beds, but was increased to 21 as patient volumes increased.

Crocker Ellacott said the hospital has a plan to be able to increase the unit's capacity if required, as well as creating additional space if there's an influx of intensive care patients.

"We do have a plan to be able to expand from 21 beds to 36 beds, or whatever is required to continue to meet the community and regional need," Crocker Ellacott said.

"We also have a plan in our intensive care unit to surge beyond the walls of intensive care and essentially take intensive care level care and service outside to areas like the postanesthetic recovery room or other areas in the health sciences centre to ensure we're able to meet patient care needs."

Crocker Ellacott said hospital officials were speaking with surgeons on Wednesday to prioritize patient care and bed space for the next several weeks. Scheduled elective surgeries could be postponed. Surgeries that would require longer hospital stays could be delayed and instead switched with procedures that have shorter recovery periods or could result in the patient being released the same day to manage volume and create capacity.

The hospital is still in a position to be able to assist other regional facilities if patients need to be transferred, she added.

The hospital's patient occupancy was 90 per cent on Wednesday.