(Quebec) The CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal announced Friday that Notre-Dame and Verdun hospitals are moving to level 4 of the load shedding plan to cross the Omicron wave. This means a reduction in surgical activities of up to 25% of the usual capacity. The CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal is approaching level 5, which would become the highest alert level in Quebec.
Updated yesterday at 6:02 p.m.
Hospitals in Greater Montreal remain on a tightrope due to the Omicron surge. The CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal said on Friday that it was forced to increase the load shedding to face the fifth wave.
“Given the evolution of the COVID situation within our hospitals, we are preparing to move to level 4 of our load shedding plan, as other establishments in the network have done in the last few days,” said let the establishment know on Friday.
Level 4 of the load shedding plan provides that surgical activities could be limited to up to 25% of ordinary capacity with the aim of freeing up beds for patients with COVID-19. Only priority operations (emergencies and oncology) are maintained at this stage.
We have a committee that evaluates the surgeries on a daily basis, their priority.
The CIUSSS of the Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal
The establishment also indicates that endoscopy activities will be reduced. Nurses working in outpatient clinics will be reassigned to hospitals to lend a hand to the teams in place. We must also plan for a reduction in regular follow-ups by physicians in family medicine groups, particularly with regard to non-urgent appointments.
It should be noted that the plan does not provide for any offloading of care and services for youth programs and the DYP, with the exception of follow-ups with dental hygienists.
Near level 5 in the East
For its part, the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal is approaching level 5 of the load shedding plan due to the high occupancy rate of its beds. On paper, level 4 is the highest level of alert in the contingency plan for health establishments under the health emergency, but in the face of pressure, establishments could move to a higher level.
We currently have 184 beds occupied by COVlD patients for our ClUSSS (173 hospital beds in the units and 11 intensive care beds). This represents 28% of all our available beds that are currently occupied by COVlD patients. At 30% of our available beds occupied, we would then go to level 5.
Christian Merciari, spokesperson for the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal
The establishment says despite everything to continue urgent surgical operations, oncological operations and operations outside establishments. We also manage to carry out operations outside the one-day period since they have little impact on hospital beds, it is said. “We are clearly at less than 50% of our elective programs compared to the pre-pandemic”, specifies Mr. Merciari.
Quebec expects the days ahead to be the toughest for hospitals in the province, as the peak of Omicron wave hospitalizations is upon us. Some 15,000 healthcare workers are on the sidelines for reasons related to COVID-19. Quebec is actively seeking to hire 2,500 workers, including 1,000 in hospitals.