Don't expect schools to reopen in Chatham-Kent until the fall.
During a media briefing on Thursday, CK Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby said he doesn't see students in the classroom until September.
"I'm thinking September. I haven't made a final decision on that. Those are my thoughts at the moment," he told reporters.
Colby has the authority to override the province within Chatham-Kent if the province decides to open schools too soon but he said his authority stops at the Chatham-Kent border.
However, the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance is getting ready to ramp up and resume elective and non-urgent surgeries after they were put on hold in March to create extra capacity to deal with COVID-19.
CKHA CEO Lori Marshall said it's going to be a regional approach and there will be a new normal when it comes to occupancy in the hospital. She said it's expected that hospitals will function at 85 per cent occupancy to create extra capacity if there's a need. Hospitals have traditionally been operating at 100 per cent occupancy or more.
Marshall said there's still much to talk about before surgeries get going again.
"We will work with our physicians and look at the various waitlists out there and different issues," she said. "We will bring them together with our leadership team."
Marshall said patient and family advisors and anesthetists (medical specialists who care for patients before, during and after surgery) will also be at the table.
Marshall also said it's too early to know if the hospital has saved any money as a result of elective surgeries being put on hold because the funding formula isn't clear yet for this coming year.
Marshall said the hospital has been fully staffed since the beginning of the pandemic to provide necessary patient services regardless of those surgeries being suspended and those staffing costs haven't changed. She said 80 per cent of hospital costs are to pay staff. The only extra costs, she said, have been to buy new equipment, such as ventilators, sterilization tools, beds, and extra personal protective equipment, like masks and gowns for front line health care workers.
