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Hospitals Begin To Scale Back Surgeries

Laura Hampshire
Apr 12, 2021 | 8:29 AM
Last Updated: Apr 12, 2021 | 10:29 AM

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Hospitals Begin To Scale Back Surgeries


Starting today, most hospitals across the province are scaling back elective surgeries.

(Please see messages below from local hospitals.)

Ontario Health has instructed hospitals to ramp down all elective surgeries and non-urgent activities in order to preserve critical care and human resource capacity. At this time, the ramp down instruction does not apply to the Northern Ontario Health Region. Pediatric specialty hospitals can also continue their plans to care for children and youth and may help if required to support other regional hospitals.

“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and health care providers have worked tirelessly and thanks to their efforts, have allowed our province to protect Ontarians and provide care for patients,” said Matthew Anderson, CEO of Ontario Health. “These are challenging times for all Ontarians, and we understand that deferring scheduled surgeries and other procedures will have an impact on patients, their families and on caregivers. We are monitoring the situation and will work to resume as soon and as safely as possible these deferred services and procedures.”

Ontario’s latest modelling data released last week said ICU occupancy could hit nearly 800 daily by the end of the month even with the month-long provincewide stay-at-home order.

There are currently 606 patients with COVID-19 in Ontario ICU’s, which is the most ever reported during the pandemic.

In response to the recent and rapid rise in hospitalizations, ICU admissions and the threat to the province’s critical care capacity, the Ontario government is issuing two emergency orders under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA). These orders will maximize system capacity, ensuring that hospitals have the resources required to provide care for patients and save lives.

These temporary emergency orders will support the redeployment of health care professionals and other workers currently working in Ontario Health and Home and Community Care Support Services organizations to hospitals. They will also provide hospitals with the flexibility to transfer patients to alternate hospital sites in situations where a hospital’s resources are at significant and immediate risk of becoming overwhelmed. These orders, along with additional measures being taken, are expected to increase ICU capacity in the province by up to 1,000 patient beds.

“With Ontario’s hospitals facing unprecedented critical care capacity pressures during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, our government is taking immediate action to ensure no capacity nor resource in Ontario’s hospitals goes untapped,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Together with the provincewide Stay-At-Home Order, these measures will help to ensure that hospitals continue to have the staffing and resources they need to care for patients. We continue to work with our hospital and health care partners to fight this deadly virus, and I want to thank all of Ontario’s frontline health care workers for their tireless work each day to protect the health and safety of Ontarians.”

These time-limited orders remain valid for 14 days unless revoked or extended in accordance with the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and will come into effect on Friday, April 9, 2021.

For more details, please click here.

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