Ottawa hospitals operating at 103 per cent capacity; Ontario government working to add beds

Ottawa hospitals are feeling the pressure of Ottawa’s viral season and the second wave of COVID-19, as they report operating at 103 per cent capacity. 

Health Minister Christine Elliott spoke Thursday about the situation in acute care, saying there is concern. 

“We’re always concerned when hospitals get to be over 100 per cent, especially now with the second wave of COVID and flu season approaching,” she said in a press conference Thursday. “However, we did announce a couple of days ago that we are opening up a number of acute care beds and additional hospital beds to have an additional 2,250 beds in 32 hospitals across the province, and the Ottawa hospitals certainly qualify for those beds.”

Elliott also said that the government is following the capacity at hospitals across Ontario on a daily basis (which should be operating at 85 per cent capacity), and the calculation was done with the additional 2,250 beds to “bring that up to a level will allow the hospitals to deal with both the incoming COVID-19 patients” and flu patients as well. 

But this is also taking into account the surgeries and procedures that were postponed during the first wave of the pandemic.

Elliot said it would be “equally devastating” if someone died from cancer or cardiac problems because they were not able to access the surgeries they needed. 

“So it’s really essential that we keep all of them moving forward, and all of that was taken into calculation when we devise the number of additional beds to be added to the system.”