The aid will arrive at Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario next week as the children’s hospital continues to receive “unprecedented volumes” of young patients with respiratory viruses.
CHEO has requested help from the Canadian Red Cross to support patient care during the respiratory virus season, and will begin a “small team of staff” from the Red Cross next week, says CHEO Nursing Director Tammy DiGiovanni.
“This will allow some of our reassigned employees to return to their normal duties and ensure the CHEO team can deliver the safe, world-class care our patients deserve,” DiGiovanni said in an email to CTV News Ottawa. .
The children’s hospital says Red Cross staff will be in the hospital from next week. A Canadian Red Cross spokesperson told CTV News Ottawa that details on the deployment of personnel at CHEO are still being finalized.
CHEO has seen a surge in the number of respiratory virus patients this fall, forcing the hospital to cancel elective surgeries and procedures, open a second pediatric intensive care unit, and redeploy surgical and medical staff.
“Everything has been hands-on at CHEO this viral season as we responded to unprecedented volumes from RSV, influenza and COVID,” said DiGiovanni.
CHEO President Alex Munter said the emergency room saw 218 children on Wednesday, including 11 children waiting for a bed in the emergency room. Intensive care and hospital medicine units operate at 130% occupancy.
DiGiovanni says CHEO has asked for “additional support” from organizations across the region, including the Canadian Red Cross, to ensure young patients get the care they need.
“We have partnered with several organizations including Roger Neilson House, Ottawa Public Health and local hospitals including The Ottawa Hospital, Pembroke Regional Hospital, Providence Care, Montfort Hospital, Queensway-Carleton Hospital and Kingston Health Sciences for personnel, equipment and accommodations for patient transfers, Di Giovanni said.
“We are very grateful to have the support of so many partners across the community at this time and continue to remind everyone to follow public health advice: wear masks in crowded indoor spaces, get vaccinated, stay home when sick and to wash hands.
“We all have a role to play in protecting our children and supporting the dedicated health workers who care for them.”
