CHEO calls in Red Cross as it deals with surge in respiratory patients
CHEO calls in Red Cross as it deals with surge in respiratory patients
Help will arrive at the children's hospital in Ottawa next week as it continues to see "unprecedented volumes" of young patients suffering from respiratory viruses.
CHEO requested assistance from the Canadian Red Cross to support patient care during respiratory virus season, and a "small team of staff" from the Red Cross will start next week, according to CHEO Chief Nursing Executive Tammy DiGiovanni.
"This will allow some of our redeployed staff to go back to their regular roles and ensure Team CHEO can provide the safe, world-class care that our patients deserve," DiGiovanni said in an email to CTV News Ottawa.
The children's hospital says the Red Cross staff will be in the hospital starting next week. A Canadian Red Cross spokesperson told CTV News Ottawa details on the deployment of staff to CHEO are still being finalized.
CHEO has been seeing a surge in patients with respiratory viruses this fall, forcing the hospital to cancel non-urgent surgeries and procedures, open a second pediatric intensive care unit and redeploy staff from surgical and medical care units.
"It has been all hands-on deck at CHEO this viral season as we have responded to unprecedented volumes due to RSV, the flu and COVID," DiGiovanni said.
CHEO President Alex Munter said the emergency department saw 218 children on Wednesday, with 11 children waiting in the ER for a bed. The critical care and inpatient medicine units are operating at 130 per cent occupancy.
DiGiovanni says CHEO has asked for "extra 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, Hôpital Montfort, Queensway-Carleton Hospital and Kingston Health Sciences for staff, equipment and accommodating patient transfers," DiGiovanni said.
"We are so grateful to have the support of so many partners across the community right now and continue to remind everyone to follow public health guidance – masks in crowded indoor spaces, get vaccinated, stay home when sick and wash your hands.
"We all have a role to play in protecting our kids and supporting the dedicated health professionals who care for them."
CHEO pediatric respirologist Dr. Tom Kovesi says the respiratory virus season created an "incredibly challenging situation" at the hospital.
"I can tell you here at CHEO, we normally have 41 pediatric beds. We've been running 60 to 70 pediatric patients for the last several weeks, with another 10 to 12 waiting in emerg," Kovesi told CTV News Channel on Sunday.
Dr. Kovesi calls the respiratory virus season "unprecedented."
"We had warnings from Australia that we're going to get an amazing RSV and influenza season, and that's certainly what we're seeing," Kovesi said.
"We're really seeing this sort of evil trio of viruses where there's still quite a bit of COVID, there's lots of RSV, and there's increasing amounts of Influenza A."
Last week, CHEO announced the Ontario government approved new, permanent funding to increase the number of funded 'Level 2' critical care beds from six to 12, and increase the number of 'Level 3' beds from 7 to 13 for children with the most critical illnesses including sepsis.
"This new, permanent funding will allow CHEO to catch up on the growing needs of the population and continue to deliver life-saving care to the region's youngest patients and their families," CHEO said in a statement.
7/8 Thanks to this support from @redcrosscanada , some of our redeployed staff will be able to go back to their regular roles so Team #CHEO can continue to provide the safe, world-class care that our patients deserve.
Eight people were seriously injured after a Laval city bus crashed into a daycare Wednesday morning, according to first responders. The driver of the bus has been arrested, according to Quebec Public Security Minister Francois Bonnardel.
An 'awkward' attempt at a handshake between Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and the prime minister Tuesday is another example of leaders from the western province hesitating before shaking Justin Trudeau's hand, say political experts.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says that if he becomes prime minister he would uphold the 10-year deals Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is looking to ink with provinces and territories that would inject $46.2 billion in new funding into Canada's strained health-care systems.
With the hope of finding survivors fading, stretched rescue teams in Turkiye and Syria searched Wednesday for signs of life in the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The confirmed death toll from the world's deadliest quake in more than a decade passed 11,000.
An associate of Ontario’s self-described “crypto king” was operating his own fraud scam parallel to the multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme, court documents allege.
Justin Trudeau has thrown in the towel in the fight to maintain the federal role as gatekeeper of a public, universal, accessible and fair health-care system in Canada, writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca. 'That could have tragic consequences for folks on the lower rungs of the social and economic ladder.'
Many Canadians are experiencing strains caused by the increased cost of living and inflation. In his exclusive column for CTVNews.ca, contributor Christopher Liew shares some of the top credits and deductions that you may be able to claim on your income tax return to help you save money.
Retirement is bittersweet for a Nova Scotia doctor who says she feels like she has abandoned the 2,000 patients she has been caring for because she was not able to find a doctor to replace her.
Thousands are dead and tens of thousands injured following the earthquake that has devastated Syria and Turkey. Maritimers with connections to the region are doing what they can to help during this time of need.
With more than 58,000 people requiring help, the Canadian Red Cross says its relief efforts after post-tropical storm Fiona last September were its largest ever in the country.
A Toronto father was working Saturday afternoon when he got a notification from an app connected to his home security system. And what he saw on his phone was every parent's worst nightmare.
An associate of Ontario’s self-described “crypto king” was operating his own fraud scam parallel to the multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme, court documents allege.
Eight people were seriously injured after a Laval city bus crashed into a daycare Wednesday morning, according to first responders. The driver of the bus has been arrested, according to Quebec Public Security Minister Francois Bonnardel.
Police are investigating after a bar in Montreal North appears to have been the scene of an arson early Wednesday morning. There were no reported injuries, but the flames seriously damaged the building and forced residents upstairs to evacuate temporarily.
The number of organ donors in Quebec has increase threefold in the past five years, according to Transplant Quebec, which also reported a “steep” rise in donations coming from patients opting for medical assistance in dying (MAID). Canada’s MAID process allows patients with certain irremediable conditions to end their own life with the help of a physician or nurse. Since the law was passed in 2016, over 30,000 people have sought the process as of 2022, when the last federal report was published.
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars.
Eighty-four bricks of suspected cocaine were seized from a commercial truck allegedly attempting to smuggle the drugs into Canada at the Blue Water Bridge, border officials say.
Team Lawes vice Selena Njegovan will be able to serve in a support role at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts after all despite initially being told she'd have limited access on site while on pregnancy leave.
A memorial has been set up in the area where 30-year-old Karen Cunningham’s body was found, as police in Woodstock continue to investigate her death as “suspicious” in nature.
Eight people were seriously injured after a Laval city bus crashed into a daycare Wednesday morning, according to first responders. The driver of the bus has been arrested, according to Quebec Public Security Minister Francois Bonnardel.
The Calgary Police Service asked residents of a northwest neighbourhood to shelter in their homes as officers responded to a situation Wednesday morning involving a firearm.
The 2022 Status of Emergency Preparedness in Calgary report highlights civil disobedience as a potential future disaster in the city and says the risk is considered high.
An 'awkward' attempt at a handshake between Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and the prime minister Tuesday is another example of leaders from the western province hesitating before shaking Justin Trudeau's hand, say political experts.
Robyn Silvernagle will be making her third appearance at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts next week in Kamloops, BC, just weeks after her team was put together.
An 'awkward' attempt at a handshake between Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and the prime minister Tuesday is another example of leaders from the western province hesitating before shaking Justin Trudeau's hand, say political experts.
A range of pressures on British Columbia forests are reverberating this spring through Houston and other rural and northern communities, where sawmill, pellet and pulp closuresare affecting hundreds of workers.
A walk past a cemetery can conjure many emotions – sadness, fear and finality. But rarely does it conjure the idea of actually seeing a deceased loved one again. On British Columbia's Gabriola Island, however, coastal erosion is unearthing more than just memories.
Saskatchewan underestimated how many rapid antigen tests were needed during the height of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, while also touting the tests as a key part of its plan to halt transmission of the virus, internal emails indicate.
