Erie Shores Healthcare has once again put out the call for people to get vaccinated as COVID-19 cases rise ahead of the holiday season.
ESHC CEO Kristin Kennedy said that the Leamington hospital is still feeling the pinch. She told Windsor's Country morning show host Morgan Ryan Tuesday that the capacity issues plaguing the hospital haven't let up.
"At the moment, we're seeing about 25 per cent of our capacity at the hospital related to unvaccinated COVID patients," said Kennedy, adding that the hospital was over capacity again last week.
Two weeks ago, the hospital reported an increase of at least a dozen unvaccinated COVID-19 patients admitted over the previous week. Issues related to capacity at ESHC have included an emergency department with a frequently full waiting area, beds being at a premium, and paramedics having to wait before being cleared to offload patients.
Kennedy said the Delta and Omicron variants of the virus hanging over the hospital aren't helping matters much.
"We are headed for some dark times relating to COVID, and the convergence of the Delta variant with the Omicron," said Kennedy. "So we are really encouraging everyone again, to have first doses, second doses, and boosters as well."
Kennedy has reminded people of the hospital's pop-up vaccination clinic at the Leamington Municipal Building Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., which has already seen a lot of demand.
"The luxury of having the pop-up clinic in Leamington is that we don't request appointments and that we can be flexible with individuals," said Kennedy. "Last week, the wait was about 20 to 30 minutes during prime times, but we still encourage people to come, and we're trying to up staff."
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has also scheduled vaccination clinics at Connections Early Years Family Centre in Windsor on Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m, and on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Windsor Essex Community Health Centre's Sandwich location.
