Although the Ontario government has directed hospitals in COVID-19 case hotspots across the province to reduce elective surgeries and other non-urgent medical procedures, officials assured locally, those will continue.
“Late last week Ontario Health directed hospitals in Southern Ontario, and other regions to ramp down all elective surgeries and non-emergent/non-urgent activities. At this time, this direction does not apply to the Northern Ontario Health Region, which includes Timmins and District Hospital,” said TADH communication specialist Kaileigh Russell.
The provincial government announced on Sunday that 605 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care units throughout Ontario, and reported nearly 4,500 new cases on Sunday, which marked a new single-day high. This prompted the order of ramping down non-urgent procedures.
“As of 11 a.m. today (Wednesday), this announcement has had no impact on the operations of the Timmins and District Hospital and we continue to work closely with the Porcupine Health Unit and Ministry of Health to respond to COVID-19,” said Russell.
Northern hospitals are exempt for the time being, but a memo from Ontario Health stated they could be requested to ramp down in the near future. Additionally, hospitals were asked to identify potential staff members who may be redeployed to harder hit areas.
“We remain committed to ensuring that Northerners continue to have access quality patient care,” said Russell. “While our staff and physicians continue working hard through the third wave of COVID-19, we are asking our community to please help us by following the public guidance.”
Andrew Autio is a Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) reported for the Daily Press. The LJI program is funded by the Government of Canada.
