'Busiest August we've ever seen' at Guelph General Hospital, and it's not because of COVID-19

Guelph General Hospital is seeing a big uptick in patients who need admission, with hospital occupancy rates beginning to return to pre-pandemic levels. 

The trend started to take off in July, according to a recent report that went before the hospital's board of directors. By August, the hospital recorded a medicine/surgical bed occupancy rate of 90 per cent — similar to the previous two years, despite the fact the hospital has more beds open due to pandemic funding.

"It's actually the busiest August we've ever seen," said Gavin Webb, the hospital's vice-president of finance and chief information officer. 

That's based on the hospital's medical and surgical patient days, which is the total number of days all patients were in hospital in the month of August.

The hospital saw 4,503 patients this past August. That topped the previous highest number of 4,424 patients in August 2018. In 2019, there were 3,881 and in 2020, the hospital saw 4,242 patients.

In September, the hospital once again started to see occupancy rates above 100 per cent — something that was common before the pandemic. 

What's driving the demand?

It isn't that Guelph General Hospital is full of COVID-19 patients. 

In fact, the report noted in August, "we had very few COVID patients and our surgical program was operating at about 60 per cent full capacity due to normal summer slow-down." 

Instead, Webb said the high volume of patients is likely the result of the area's growing population, combined with pent-up demand from people who delayed care during the pandemic. 

"The biggest area we're seeing increasing demand is in our medicine program, and people coming to the emergency department that are sicker than we would have seen in the past, and therefore requiring more and more of them to be hospitalized," he said. 

Asked if patients are once again being put in non-traditional locations, Webb said "our goal right now is to avoid hallway medicine at all costs."

Similar trends in Waterloo region

Hospitals in Waterloo region tell CBC Kitchener-Waterloo they, too, have noticed an uptick in demand in recent months. 

"In August and September, our Emergency Department (ED) volumes were the highest that they have been since fall 2019 and our inpatient occupancy rates also climbed back to pre-pandemic levels," said a spokesperson for St. Mary's General Hospital. 

"We will only see these numbers climb as individuals who had delayed their care during the pandemic continue to reach out, combined with the commitment to resuming regularly-scheduled care appointments, as well as catching up on any backlogged cases." 

Both Cambridge Memorial Hospital and Grand River Hospital provided statements saying they, too, are experiencing high inpatient occupancy rates.

Amid the heightened demand, Webb said people should seek non-urgent care through their family doctor or nurse practitioner if possible — though he noted they should, of course, come to the ED in an emergency.

Webb said Guelph General Hospital is also trying to recruit more staff, and is advocating to the province for permanent funding to maintain the beds it opened during the pandemic.