Children’s Hospital is taking steps to deal with an unprecedented jump in the number of kids in need of critical medical care.
The London Health Sciences Centre, which operates Children’s Hospital, announced on Thursday it is expanding the hospital’s paediatric critical care unit by 60 per cent. The expanded capacity will allow Children’s to better manage the increased patient volumes and provide appropriate and timely care.
“As this situation evolves, it’s our priority to ensure we are finding innovative solutions to maintain critical care capacity,” Nash Syed, the president of Children’s Hospital, said in a statement. “Thanks to the Ministry’s timely support, we were able to utilize ministry funds to increase bed capacity and create the Paediatric Critical Care Unit (PCCU) Annex. The additional beds will provide the space we need to treat some of our most vulnerable paediatric patients while supporting patient flow to other areas.”
The PCCU Annex, which is a preexisting care space, is fully equipped to manage up to eight additional critical care paediatric patients, according to the LHSC. Staff and physicians with critical care and paedatric experience have volunteered to be redeployed to the annex.
“Words cannot express the gratitude I have for our health care teams,” said Syed. “This is a challenging time for everyone, but I truly appreciate the staff’s willingness to step in and care for the patients we serve.”
Last week, capacity levels at the hospital reached 120 per cent as more patients with respiratory ailments were admitted.
Family members of patients sent to the annex are being advised that only one guardian will be permitted to stay with each child admitted at a time.
As space is limited, health care teams will work closely with family members of patients to find appropriate rest areas, including the PCCU sleep room and Ronald McDonald House.
