Thread by @QCHOttawa

QCH has moved to the next stage in its pandemic surge plan and has further ramped down surgeries and services to prepare for the increased COVID-19 needs in Ottawa. This will make more staff available – including nurses and RTs – for other urgent priorities.

Please read this 1/

Effective Monday, we're reducing the number of ORs to two – 1 for cancer surgeries & 1 for emergency surgeries. The hospital has ramped down endoscopy & Ambulatory Care clinics. Staff from these areas have moved to ICU, secondary ICU, Emergency, Medicine & the Vaccine Clinic. 2/

This is not an easy decision to make. We know this is frustrating for all the patients this decision impacts. Please know we are not making these difficult decisions lightly & will let you know when your appointments are able to be rescheduled as soon as it is safe to do so. 3/

Our ICU is completely full with COVID-19 patients & we continue to surge into a 2nd temporary ICU. Our ED is seeing an increased number of high acuity pts & a lot require isolation. Today we have 30 COVID patients, 12 in ICU. Provincial projections say there's more to come. 4/

This is a time of rapid change & adjustment as we try to maintain as many services as possible while admitting more COVID pts & some pts from the GTA. Staff are really stepping up to the challenge – moving into new & unfamiliar jobs with strength, compassion & professionalism. 5/

It’s been a long year and has affected every single person in our city, especially our healthcare workers who have been maintaining the frontline and caring for the people in our city for over a year. Your support is needed now more than ever. 6/

By following the guidelines and staying home when you can, you are ensuring everyone on the frontline – including other essential workers like paramedics, bus drivers, and grocery store clerks – are safe while they do their jobs. 7/

We will get through this. We know we will.

It's an all hands-on deck situation and we are very thankful for our amazing QCH team and this community.

Thank you.

- Queensway Carleton Hospital

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