The spread of swine flu has forced the Ottawa Hospital to cancel almost 60 elective surgeries in the last few days as administrators struggle to find resources to deal with an influx of patients with flu-like symptoms.
Hospital officials say they are only admitting time-sensitive surgical cases this week.
Right now, the Ottawa Hospital is running beyond 100 per cent capacity. The Civic Campus was running at 104.6 per cent capacity on Wednesday and the General Campus was at 104.9 per cent.
The increased pressure is linked to a 40 per cent surge in patients coming to the emergency department with flu-like symptoms.
"We're hoping that some of the initiatives that are taking place within the community, like flu assessment clinics, will help out the emergency department," said Dr. Jeff Turnbull, Chief of Staff at the Ottawa Hospital.
Union leaders representing Ontario hospitals warned earlier this week that hospitals don't have enough capacity to deal with a large influx of patients sick with swine flu.
