By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Effective January 6, Northumberland Hills Hospital will be temporarily postponing all non-urgent services, including elective surgeries, non-urgent Diagnostic Imaging procedures and non-urgent Ambulatory Care clinic activities.
The aim – as set out in an update to Directive 2 from Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health to all hospitals on Jan. 5 – is to preserve health human resources for essential services in the face of record-high COVID-19 case counts driven by the Omicron variant.
“Once again, as we were in April 2021, we are being called on to work together as a province to do all we can to preserve our system’s overall bed and human-resource capacity,” NHH President and Chief Executive Officer Susan Walsh said in the announcement.
“We sincerely regret the impact this causes on patients and families affected by the temporary postponements, but underscore that it is a necessary step to help us help those who are most in need.”
The NHH Emergency Department continues to operate as usual.
The NHH COVID-19 Assessment Centre – which recently adjusted testing guidelines as per provincial direction to ensure a focus on the most vulnerable in the highest-risk settings – continues to provide service seven days a week with support from Ontario Health Team of Northumberland partners.
All urgent care (including cancer care and dialysis) will continue to be provided. Mental-health proramming will shift to virtual, wherever possible, and there will be no impact to patients currently admitted to hospital.
NHH staff and area providers are now in the process of contacting elective-non-urgent patients and families affected by the rampdown. If you do not receive a call, you may assume your procedure or services will continue as planned.
The rampdown is expected to last at least until Jan. 26. NHH will provide an update through its communication channels closer to that date, and patients will be contacted directly when their procedures have been rescheduled.
NHH has also initiated further visitor restrictions in an effort to minimize risk from the highly infections Omicron variant. At this time the following are permitted:
one birth partner per NHH obstetrical patient
family members and loved ones of non-COVID-positive patients at the point of imminent end-of-life, as advised by the care team
essential caregivers to children (aged 18 and under) coming to hospital for care
essential caregivers for those with cognitive impairments in outpatient settings only, such as Emergency Department or Diagnostic Imaging visits
In all cases, these visitors must successfully answer the screening questions and agree to comply with any personal protective equipment requirements.
COVID-positive patients continue to be restricted to virtual visiting only.
Walsh extended her thanks for everyone’s patience and support as these latest adjustments are made.
“Thank you too for doing all in your power to minimize your risk – get vaccinated, maintain distance from those outside your immediate household, wear a mask when you cannot, and follow the latest self-isolation guidelines if you do fall ill.” she listed.
“Every member of our team is committed to doing all in our power to provide exceptional patient care for those who need us most, but it will take all of us working together to see this pandemic through.”
