St. Mary’s to gradually resume surgeries and procedures
On February 01, 2022, Ontario hospitals received a revised Directive 2, enabling the resumption of some services.
On February 01, 2022, Ontario hospitals received a revised Directive 2, enabling the resumption of some services. Less than one month ago, The Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) issued Directive #2 instructing hospitals to temporarily suspend non-urgent and non-emergent services.
The Ontario Science Table also released new projections on February 01, 2022, which indicate that the Omicron wave may be plateauing or in decline. Hospitalizations for patients with COVID-19 are at the highest point since the pandemic began, and those volumes are expected to be maintained as the province begins to re-open. Hospitals across the province and in Waterloo Wellington continue to redirect and redeploy resources to care for patients with COVID-19, which limits our ability to ramp up scheduled procedures. Currently, at local hospitals including St. Mary’s, only urgent and emergent care is being provided.
The new Directive 2 outlines a phased resumption plan that will be monitored provincially to ensure a consistent ramp up across the province. The following steps are required immediately of public hospitals:
- Continue emergent or urgent surgeries
- Gradually and cautiously resume all diagnostic imaging and cancer screening
- Gradually and cautiously resume scheduled ambulatory clinics provided this increased activity does not result in insufficient staffing in other areas of the hospital
- Continue to cease all other non-emergent or non-urgent surgeries and procedures
At St. Mary’s, we are planning for a very slow and steady ramp up of our diagnostic imaging, but at this time, will not resume any other scheduled care. We need to ensure there is the ability to continue to provide care to patients in need of emergent and urgent care. Listen to President Lee Fairclough, in her interview with Greater KW Chamber of Commerce CEO Ian McLean, explain the timeline for surgical ramp up.
We thank the community for their part in protecting each other, and our health system capacity. Vaccination, masking, and reducing contact have all made a difference in allowing hospitals to be in the position to start planning for resumption.