The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Chatham hospital is full again.
Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) reported on Thursday that the ICU is at 100 per cent occupancy.
CKHA President and CEO Lori Marshall said some surgeries may have to be cancelled again because of the rising number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital. The Chatham hospital is dealing with 16 local COVID-19 patients and five of them are in the ICU with one on a ventilator. Marshall said 13 of the patients are not vaccinated against the virus. She added the average age of COVID-19 patients at the hospital is 61. Medical, surgical, and critical care occupancy is also at 99 per cent.
"I'm both disheartened and quite worried about our situation at the hospital currently," said Marshall. "We've all heard this tune before or seen this show before. When hospitals become overwhelmed, the only outlet that we have is to reduce scheduled care and that impacts surgical patients that may have to be rescheduled. We're not doing that at this stage but it is something that I'm really worried and concerned about that we may have to go down that road again."
Marshall said the hospital is evaluating the surgical situation day to day and no surgeries will be cancelled before the weekend.
Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby said he's highly frustrated because he's been warning about this situation for several weeks. It's no secret the major source of Colby's frustration has been misinformation by anti-vaxxers and No Lockdown protesters.
"In order to protect everyone in the community, we've got to roll up our sleeves," said Colby. "If all of the ICUs in the region fill up and there are no beds available, then we have to make really tough decisions about who gets the bed and who gets care. We do not want to go there. We do not want to go there at all. We want to have enough health care for everyone who needs it. How frustrated am I? On a scale of one to 10 it's up in the thousands."
Marshall said hospital staff is under additional pressure because of the surge in cases and some are burned out, while others are leaving, similar to what's going on around the province and the country.
"People go into health care because they want to help and to serve others and that's what sustains a number of people. But there is a limit with respect to the stress. We are seeing that within the organization with things like sick time and turnovers," Marshall said.
On Thursday, Chatham-Kent Public Health reported the number of active cases is down to 115, one less than the previous day. There were no new outbreaks reported Thursday.
Colby also said mandatory vaccinations for students in Chatham-Kent is not on the table because schools are considered an essential service. He noted the time to announce mandatory vaccinations for in-class students was last Spring to give people enough time to get ready.
Local school staff are required to be vaccinated. Students under 12 still don't have access to a COVID-19 vaccine.
Lambton-Kent District School Board Director of Education John Howitt said there is no COVID-19 spread within area schools. He said all 13 cases at the nine public schools in Chatham-Kent involved transmission in the community.
Howitt urges people to check their symptoms before school and stay home if they are sick.
At the Catholic school board, Monsignor Uyen in Chatham has two cases but no classes are closed. St Anne in Blenheim has one case and one class closed.
