Health officials say an internal note citing hospital capacity problems leaked to the press was misunderstood and the public should not worry.
As first reported by Capital Daily in Victoria, an internal note was circulated informing staff at Victoria General Hospital of the “overcrowding situation” and advising them to consider using hotel rooms.
The note, received independently of the CBC, says emergency care sites are specifically facing this crisis. Island Health says the directive is for these sites, but does not affect those seeking emergency help – rather for those who have received care and need a place to stay over time.
In an e-mail statement, health officials said that although hospitals were “extremely busy”, they were ready to take care of anyone in need of medical care.
“There is no plan to place hospital patients in need of emergency care in hotel rooms,” the statement said.
Island Health says it sometimes uses hotel rooms for people who do not need emergency care but whose living conditions are not safe, such as someone who is homeless or waiting for a bed in another facility.
The note also suggests other measures that hospital staff can take to speed up the discharge process, including overtime and attracting leaders to help create more space for hospital care patients.
During a media meeting, the Minister of Health of British Columbia Adrian Dix said that the note is intended specifically for rehabilitation coordinators, who facilitate the discharge, to remind them of these options.
“We’re not going to send people in need of emergency care to hotel rooms. That’s not going to happen. It won’t make sense to happen,” Dix told reporters.
The hospital on the Saanic Peninsula was on an ambulance diversion – where patients transported by ambulance were diverted to another hospital nearby – for 45 minutes on April 24, but the emergency department remains open to patients entering, according to health authorities. No other information was provided as to why this happened or how it was allowed.
Dix said the hospital’s capacity remains a challenge as the pandemic and toxic drug crisis continues. Last week’s COVID data showed that hospitalizations increased by 33 percent over the previous week.
Criticism of counting numbers
As of April 21, 485 people were in hospital with COVID-19, including 38 in intensive care, according to the BC COVID-19 scoreboard.
After two years of daily reporting of hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19, the province switched to publishing information on Thursday three weeks ago.
Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau criticized the government’s move to weekly reporting on COVID-19 during the period in question on Tuesday following the publication of a Capital Daily article, saying she would prefer to learn about government hospital capacity problems. not through media reports.
“It is very important to have transparency and to provide a proper assessment of the circumstances in our public health system today,” Dix said in response.
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