Health Sciences North, the largest hospital in Northern Ontario, said it is experiencing a surge of COVID-19 cases and the staff is feeling the pressure.
HSN's daily COVID summary page showed there are five separate outbreaks at HSN venues, with three outbreaks on different floors of the hospital itself and two outbreaks at other locations.
"Like other hospitals across Ontario, HSN is currently experiencing a surge in COVID cases that’s putting pressure on our front-line staff," said HSN communications manager Jason Turnbull.
He said the situation across Ontario is urgent as COVID numbers continue to rise.
"In the past month, COVID hospitalizations have been on the rise across the province, with an increase of 53 per cent in 24 days. It is the first time since May 2022 that COVID hospitalizations have exceeded 1,600," Turnbull explained.
That information was recently posted by HSN president and CEO Dominic Giroux on his Twitter account. Additional details were posted here.
Also, as of Monday afternoon, Turnbull there were 61 COVID admissions at the Sudbury hospital.
"That is almost triple the number of the cases we had three weeks ago. Our acute care units are also short-staffed on most shifts because the acuity of care that our patients require has gone up during the pandemic. This comes off a busy summer where we saw a record level of admissions. HSN was built for 412 patients, but we have seen up to 598 patients concurrently this summer, not counting the 60 patients at the Clarion hotel," Turnbull explained.
Turnbull said that surge in patients has taken a toll on the hospital staff.
"Due to these pressures, we have more staff that have taken leave either because they have contracted COVID-19 in the community, are isolating due to an exposure, or because they are exhausted after two and half years of pandemic," he said.
Turnbull added that HSN has been working hard to bring new workers on board. He said the staff shortage continues.
"We have recruited over 800 new staff members in the past 12 months, however given our current challenges most of our units are often working short staffed. HHR (health human resources) issues are expected to continue to challenge our teams as the region’s population continues to age and 1,400 employees will be eligible to retire over the next five years," Turnbull said.
Getting back to the current struggle at HSN, Turnbull said the hospital is encouraging everyone to take precautions.
"With the rise in COVID cases and the beginning of what is expected to be a very busy flu season, we are encouraging our staff as well as the members of our community to receive their flu vaccine and the most recent COVID boosters as soon as possible," he said.
Turnbull's comments came after concern was voiced Monday when OCHU/CUPE (Ontario Council of Hospital Unions & Canadian Union of Public Employees) and unionized members of Greater Sudbury Paramedics Service held a joint news conference.
Bryan Keith, the president of CUPE Local 4705 representing paramedics said the current staffing shortage at the hospital, and at the paramedic service, is preventing local paramedics from being able to take more emergency calls.
The union is calling on the Ontario government to come up with a formal staffing strategy to solve the concerns at HSN and other hospitals across Ontario.
Len Gillis covers mining and health care for Sudbury.com.
