The past few weeks have been frantically busy in local hospital emergency departments.
In a report presented to the Quinte Health Care Board of Directors today (Tuesday) at its meeting in Picton, board members heard
that on 14 days in January, emergency rooms have been in a “gridlock” situation.
That means some patients that have been admitted to hospital have had to remain in emergency department beds for their treatment
for a period of time because all of the in-patient beds have been filled.
This gridlock has occurred despite the fact that 48 extra beds have been spread amongst QHC’s four hospitals to deal with the so-called “flu season”.
Half of the cost of the extra beds is being paid for by a one-time special grant that was recently announced from the provincial government.
President of QHC Mary Clare Egberts praised the staff for working diligently to deal with the crush of patients, adding that nasty
intestinal and respiratory illnesses have hit the population especially hard this year.
Influenza is also playing a role in the increased demand for health care but its prevalence isn’t thought to be out of the ordinary.
Board Chair Stuart Wright said the flu vaccine this year has been a very good match, effective against about 70% of influenza bugs circulating in the province.
