Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington continues preserving critical care capacity for COVID-19 patients

Burlington | Halton | Ontario | COVID | Latest News |

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Published May 28, 2021 at 4:08 pm

While things at Joseph Brant Hospital (JBH) in Burlington seem to be moving in the right direction after months of operating over capacity, President and CEO, Eric Vandewall says they continue to preserve critical care capacity for COVID-19 patients.

“At JBH, we are starting to see some relief from the intense pressure on our critical care beds, and are currently at 86 per cent capacity,” said Vandewall in a recent statement.

According to Vandewall, as of May 28, JBH is caring for four confirmed COVID-19 positive patients, with one confirmed case in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 16 recovered patients who continue to require care in the ICU and acute care units.

Last week, the provincial government lifted restrictions that paused scheduled and non-urgent procedures in order to help manage the uptick in COVID-19 cases across the province. This will enable hospitals to begin resuming these services if they can while maintaining COVID-19 care capacity.

“We know how important resuming this care is to our patients and their families. At JBH, we are starting to move in that direction and are working with our clinical teams and regional hospital partners to ramp up surgical care as quickly and as safely as possible,” said Vandewall.

Vandewall noted that it is important that JBH continues to preserve critical care capacity for COVID-19 care and that this may take time to complete.

Additionally, he advised those awaiting surgeries or other procedures that their doctors will contact them directly with more information.

While JBH is moving in the right direction, Vandewall emphasized the importance of remaining vigilant.

“While we are seeing positive signs that we nearing an end to the third wave of this pandemic, we are still some time away from being able to say we are in the post-pandemic recovery phase. We must remain vigilant and continue to be patient – we will get there, it will take time,” said Vandewall.

“It is important to remember that regardless of your vaccination status, public health experts recommend that we should continue to follow safety measures such as wearing masks in public, physical distancing, and regular hand washing.”

 

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