Hospital increasing non-essential surgical and procedural activity
by Maryanne Matthews
Beginning on June 1st, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre will begin to increase non-essential surgical and procedural activity, including elective surgeries, that had been previously ramped down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is a very welcome development and allows our dedicated team to begin addressing the needs of patients waiting in the community for care,” said Dr. Stewart Kennedy, Incident Manager for the Hospital’s COVID-19 response. “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our hospital has provided urgent and emergent care, with clinicians constantly evaluating the care needs of people who are waiting and moving individuals into the urgent and emergent categories as needed. Still, for many patients whose care has been deferred, the pandemic has caused increased anxiety and stress. We appreciate the patience of the community as we increase services in a careful and incremental manner.”
As the pandemic continues to evolve, the health and safety of all staff, patients, and the community remains as the Hospital’s top priority. “Decisions on how and when patients will be scheduled are guided by principles of fairness, equity and transparency,” said Dr. Kennedy. “In addition, levels of hospital capacity, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supplies and staffing will be constantly monitored to ensure the ability to meet needs should there be an influx of COVID-19 patients. We must also be able to decrease non-essential services quickly if there’s a re-emergence of multiple COVID-19 positive patients.”
Patients who were impacted by service cancellations will be contacted directly by their physicians or the Hospital for rescheduling. Patience is appreciated as the Hospital works diligently to address the backlog created by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime, those who require urgent health care will always have access to it at our Hospital.
For more information about our Hospital’s COVID-19 response, please visit https://tbrhsc.net/covid-19-information/.
