People who have upcoming non-urgent surgeries and procedures at London’s hospitals should expect a call to reschedule.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and St. Joseph’s Health Care London have begun notifying patients whose surgeries are to be postponed as part of a provincial pause aimed at preserving capacity and resources amid a fifth wave of COVID-19.
“Patients whose appointments are impacted by any change in services at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Parkwood Institute or Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care will be contacted directly,” St. Joseph’s said in a statement. “Those patients who have not been contacted should attend their appointments as usual. This includes surgical and outpatient appointments at all sites.”
LHSC also stated it is working to adhere to the provincial directive to halt non-emergency surgeries and procedures.
“As you can appreciate, adjustments of this scale are complex,” said a LHSC spokesperson. “Patients whose procedures are canceled as a result of this directive will be contacted directly by their care team.”
Both hospital networks in the city plan to release more information about the service changes in the coming days.
The Ontario government announced the pause of all non-emergent and non-urgent surgeries and procedures at hospitals across the province on Monday. The decision was made based on “real-world experience” and evidence in Ontario that approximately one per cent of Omicron cases require hospital care.
“The rapid rise of Omicron cases, which may soon number in the hundreds of thousands, could result in the province’s hospital capacity becoming overwhelmed if further action isn’t taken to curb transmission,” the province said. “When one in 100 cases goes to hospital, it means that with this rapid increase in transmission the number of new cases requiring hospitalization will also rapidly increase daily. ”
Ontario recorded a record high 18,445 positive COVID-19 cases on Sunday, which has also come with a jump in hospitalizations, including to the number of people listed in intensive care units.
Since Friday, the number of patients with COVID-19 in the care of the LHSC has more than doubled with 59 people positive for the virus admitted. Ten of those patients are listed in intensive care.
The latest round of restrictions are expected to remain in place for at least 21 days.
