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Montfort Hospital opening care beds in east-end retirement home

Beacon Heights Retirement Residence on Montreal Road in Ottawa. (Aaron Reid/CTV News Ottawa) Beacon Heights Retirement Residence on Montreal Road in Ottawa. (Aaron Reid/CTV News Ottawa)
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The Montfort Hospital has announced it is moving some patients to a local retirement home to increase capacity within the hospital.

The 20-bed unit for low-risk patients is located in the Beacon Heights Retirement Residence on Montreal Road, about 4.5 km away from the Montfort, the hospital said in a news release Tuesday. Funding for the unit is provided by the Ministry of Health.

“Physicians from Montfort will continue to provide care for the transferred patients, with support from other healthcare professionals from the hospital, and additional support from the staff of Beacon Heights. Care will be available in either English or French,” the hospital says.

Hospital CEO Dr. Bernard Leduc says the move will benefit both the patients being transferred and people who need to be newly admitted to hospital.

“Moving patients who no longer require acute care to the Beacon Heights Residence will ensure that they can be safely cared for while waiting for the next step in their health journey. These changes will help free up hospital beds for people waiting to be admitted,” he said.

The 20-bed unit is on the sixth floor of the retirement home. Montfort says the patients transferred there will remain Montfort patients and they would not lose their priority on waiting lists for access to long-term care or other residences of their choice.

The residence’s visitation policy will be in effect for the Montfort patients, and parking is free.

Hospitals in Ontario have been dealing with staffing shortages, procedure backlogs, and surges of patients this winter as respiratory illnesses surged. Earlier this week, pediatric hospitals issued a plea for help to deal with a significant backlog of surgeries.

The Montfort Hospital said earlier in January that it was at 125 per cent capacity. The hospital’s wait time page listed the longest wait at more than 15 hours Tuesday afternoon.

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