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November 16, 2023
Media Room

Weekly Update on Hospital Capacity – November 16, 2023

Hamilton’s healthcare partners are asking for the community’s help in preventing the spread of respiratory illness this fall/winter season and preserving access to the city’s urgent care and emergency resources for those who need them most.

As part of this effort, Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) will be sharing weekly updates about hospital capacity, and links to stories/health tips to support our community this fall/winter season.

All HHS sites, including our emergency departments (EDs) continue to be under significant pressure.

NEW this week:

  • Increasing surgical activity is a key priority and we are working on resuming more than 100% of this activity as compared to pre-COVID levels by the spring.
    • HHS recently recruited 10 new anesthesiologists who will be starting in the upcoming months and we continue to focus on recruiting nurses and other critical perioperative staff such as perfusionists.
    • We’re also working with our regional partners on solutions. This includes continuing to advance our partnership with St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton on a regional OR initiative to support quicker access for patients requiring hip and knee replacement surgeries, gyne/oncology and breast surgeries, and some plastic surgeries.

Of note:

  • The Hamilton General Hospital remains on redirect for non-regional critical care to ensure that level-3 critical care capacity remains available for those requiring specialized care in our regional programs such cardiac, stroke, burns , neuro and trauma.
  • Where necessary, some scheduled care is being deferred to lessen the pressure on patient flow and ensure HHS can fulfil its regional and critical care mandate.
  • All HHS sites, including the Satellite Health Facility (operated in partnership with St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton) and McMaster Children’s Hospital, are routinely at 100% occupancy or higher.

We’re grateful to everyone for their patience when seeking care in our EDs and when attending appointments in our hospitals. Thank you to our staff and physicians as well for their endless efforts to meet the needs of all patients.

 

Hospital activity – November 16

Funded Occupancy Rates:
Hamilton General Hospital 103%
Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre 112%
McMaster Children’s Hospital 93%
West Lincoln Memorial Hospital 114%
ALC Patient Occupancy 258
COVID+ Patients 81
COVID+ Patients in ICU Less than 5
Active COVID Outbreaks 1

 

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