Emergency visits at Winnipeg's Children's Hospital dropping, still remain high

Patient volumes at Winnipeg's Children's Hospital remain high, but are trending downward and no longer at unprecedented levels, according to the organization that oversees the delivery of health care in Manitoba.

Shared Health reports there were 150 patient visits to the emergency department at Winnipeg's Children's Hospital at the Health Sciences Centre on Wednesday.

Daily ebbs and flows are expected, especially with viral and respiratory illnesses circulating throughout the community.

Two-plus weeks into November and the department has seen about 174.1 patients per day. This remains slightly ahead of the record pace for any month set in December 2019, when the average number of patient visits was 170.3 per day, the spokesperson wrote.

The daily average last month was 145.8 patients.

Last November, the emergency department saw an average of 124 patients per day.

The number of patient admissions to the Children's Hospital remains below normal levels. Eight patients were admitted Wednesday, says the spokesperson.

There were 10 patients in the pediatric intensive care unit, but there were no pediatric intensive care unit patients being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit, as of Wednesday morning.

The pre-pandemic baseline capacity for the pediatric intensive care unit is nine staffed beds.

Although the numbers have moved in a positive direction since the emergency department saw 201 visits Sunday, the spokesperson says the department and inpatient units are still busy.

Six contingency beds were open on medicine units Thursday morning, a number that will fluctuate based on patient admissions and discharges, the spokesperson said.

The neonatal intensive care unit had 52 patients Wednesday morning, just above its normal baseline capacity of 50. This included eight infants with respiratory illness who were being isolated from others, the spokesperson wrote.

Medical staff are being asked to work additional shifts and take on overtime to ensure appropriate care continues to be provided to patients.

Shared Health wants to remind parents and guardians that the emergency department is recommended for any child experiencing difficulty breathing, extreme fatigue or lethargy, or unable to take in fluids.

Patients continue to be prioritized to ensure the sickest and the most injured are seen first. Patients with less urgent or emergent needs who visit the children's emergency department may wait longer as a result.