Waterloo Region & Wellington County | January 14, 2022 –
Click here to read the Waterloo Wellington COVID Report for Friday, January 14, 2022 that local hospitals have committed to jointly providing on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Over the last seven days we’ve seen a sharp rise in admissions to hospital from 95 last Friday to 151 today across our hospitals Waterloo Wellington. All hospitals continue to have very high occupancy overall for non-COVID related care.
In addition, the number of staff that are off related to COVID has increased from just over 300 to close to 600. These trends match the general prevalence of COVID we’re seeing in our community and adds to the significant pressures for care and beds given the already high occupancy of our hospitals for non-COVID related care. Our teams continue to care for more patients with less staff and this is creating additional strains on teams that were already stretched thin. Fortunately, because staff are vaccinated, we are starting to see some staff return to work as their symptoms are mild. We are grateful to these dedicated professionals who continue to do all they can to come to work and care for patients in the community.
Those in hospital waiting for long term care and home care in our hospitals are also at their highest levels given the strains on staffing in other sectors, and the outbreaks being felt in all high risk settings currently. This is contributing to high occupancy levels in hospitals.
It is anticipated this week, there will be a continued rise in hospitalizations. We are doing all that we can to respond. We appreciate those that have taken time to recognize our frontline workers in many different ways and appreciate your patience and support as we work through this wave.
“The sharp continued rise in hospitalization from 95 to 161 patients for COVID-19 since last Friday is what we would expect given the very high prevalence of COVID in our community. Our teams in hospitals continue to do all we can to serve you, and work together as a health system to respond,” says Lee Fairclough, president, St. Mary’s General Hospital and Waterloo Wellington hospital regional lead, COVID-19 response.