It could be a nine-hour wait at Windsor Regional Hospital ERs thanks to influx of flu patients
10 patients at the two campuses are waiting for an inpatient bed
The Windsor Regional Hospital has had to postpone outpatient surgeries to help free up beds while both campuses continue to battle a "surge" of patients caused by what the CEO is calling one of the worst flu seasons ever.
Wednesday morning the Met Campus was at 120 per cent capacity and Ouellette Campus was at 101 per cent. By mid-day, Met Campus was at 113 per cent and Ouellette was at 106 per cent.
- Long ER wait times, ambulances delayed at overcrowded Windsor Regional Hospital sites
- Spike in patient numbers has Ontario hospitals bursting at seams
Both campuses had five patients in the emergency department waiting for an inpatient bed, according to CEO David Musyj.
"It's not where we would like to be," said Musyj, who added that the hospital has postponed 10 outpatient surgeries to make room for patients.
"We're still under a surge," says Windsor Regional Hospital CEO. <br> <br>Both campuses above 100% capacity and they're now postponing some outpatient surgeries. <br><br>This flu season is one of the worst ever, he says, and that's what's causing problems. <a href="https://t.co/li8kykJCuz">pic.twitter.com/li8kykJCuz</a>
—@ChrisEnsingCBC"What we're facing is probably one of the worst influenza seasons ever," said Musyj. "This one was planned to be bad — and it is bad."
Impact across services
Overcrowding due to a huge influx of flu patients this week has caused long ER wait times and left ambulances waiting for hours to drop off patients.
"We're having three, four, five ambulances at offload delay at the hospital site, not for 10 minutes, they're on offload delay for three, four, five hours waiting to get a bed or a chair," explained Bruce Krauter, chief of Essex-Windsor EMS Tuesday.
The ambulance service is taking special steps, including moving some with non-urgent needs to the emergency room at Erie Shores Healthcare in Leamington and even adding more ambulances "at a moment's notice" to serve the increased need.