We’re navigating yet another trying wave of the pandemic and it continues to take a toll.
Our health care system is very strained and in a vulnerable position. We need to work together to slow the spread of the Omicron variant so our hospitals don’t get overwhelmed.
We know you’re likely experiencing a number of emotions from frustration to fear to exhaustion and everything in between – we are too – but we need to stay the course by continuing to follow public health guidelines, limiting contact with others and getting vaccinated. This includes getting your booster shot.
At Mackenzie Health, to keep everyone within our hospitals as safe as possible, we’ve had to make some very difficult decisions like restricting visitors. These decisions have not been made lightly, and we know they have a significant impact on patients and their loved ones. But they are necessary at this time to help ensure we can provide the care our community needs and deserves.
There is so much information out there and it can be hard to keep up with the most up-to-date protocols, policies and government directives as they evolve. That’s why we wanted to share this update to our community from your local hospitals’ perspective.
Our health care team is doing everything they can to care for our community so please be patient, respectful and kind. Mackenzie Health continues to be safe and you shouldn’t hesitate to come to us for care if you need it.
Here are a few updates you need to know:
- Visitor guidelines
To ensure the continued safety of everyone within our hospitals’ walls, effective Dec. 23, 2021, we updated our visitor guidelines. We made the difficult decision to no longer permit visitors at this time at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital or Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital, with limited exceptions. For more information and a list of exceptions, click here.
We recognize that support from family and friends is an important part of a patient’s healing process and how challenging it has been for families who want to connect with their loved ones. To help patients and families stay connected, we have provided dedicated resources to our care teams to support virtual calls, including on weekends.
We have also made all TV, internet and phone access free on the tablets available at each bedside, we’re providing free Wi-Fi and have implemented video chat functionality through each patient’s bedside tablet. As soon as we feel it is safe to do so, we will loosen our visitor restrictions. In the meantime, we appreciate your cooperation and understanding.
- Repurposing our Assessment Centre
Effective, Dec. 31, the provincial government updated the list of those eligible for publicly-funded PCR tests. PCR tests are being prioritized for those at increased risk of severe outcomes and those living or working in the highest risk settings like hospitals and long-term care homes. A full list of eligible individuals can be found here.
Mackenzie Health’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre is no longer taking appointments for COVID-19 tests. We have, however, opened a new Clinical Assessment Centre at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital. To start, we will be referring patients arriving in the Emergency Department who need attention but not emergency care to the Clinical Assessment Centre by appointment. At their appointment, patients will be assessed by a physician who will be able to provide a diagnosis and treatment options without the patient needing to wait in the Emergency Department. We’re exploring other options for patients to be referred to the centre and will keep our community updated.
Please do not come to our Emergency Departments or Urgent Care Centre for a COVID-19 test. They are not testing centres. We need to focus our resources on caring for the growing number of people who are coming to us in an emergency or crisis.
- Pausing non-urgent scheduled surgeries and procedures
The provincial government recently announced additional measures to help slow the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. This included pausing non-urgent scheduled surgeries and procedures to create capacity for hospitals to treat the high volumes of patients coming to the emergency department who need to be admitted for care. We will continue to conduct urgent and emergent surgeries and procedures to ensure patients continue to receive the care they urgently need. We know the pandemic has been challenging for everyone, especially for patients who will have their scheduled surgeries and procedures postponed. We understand our patients’ frustration and we appreciate our community’s support and patience as we navigate these challenges as best as we can.
- Staffing challenges
With the rapid community spread of the Omicron variant, health care workers at hospitals across the province are being impacted. Many of them are becoming ill themselves or need to isolate because they were exposed to COVID-19. Staffing shortages are putting further strain on our health care workers who are already experiencing exhaustion and burnout.
Staffing has become a significant challenge and we are doing everything we can to ensure patients continue to receive safe, quality care. This includes redeploying some staff into different areas of the hospital that are challenged with staffing pressures. We are so grateful to all our staff, physicians and volunteers for their continued dedication, commitment and resilience in the face of this battle with COVID-19. We thank our community for their patience and understanding as we do all we can to minimize the impact to our operations.
- Supporting our community partners
The Mackenzie Health community support team continues to work with more than 100 congregate care facilities across western York Region to ensure residents in long-term care and retirement homes and other congregate care settings remain supported throughout the pandemic. Our team provides an average of 120 education and audit sessions per month to staff and essential caregivers to sustain best practices in keeping residents as safe as possible and minimizing the spread of infection. Our team has also been working to build capacity within these homes by teaching screeners how to perform swab tests as well as reinforcing the identified Infection Prevention and Control champions at each site.
We’re grateful for your continued understanding, support, patience and cooperation as we navigate these very difficult times. It’s not going to be easy, but we will get through this together.