Overcrowding at the Georges Dumont Hospital and the Stella Maris-de-Kent Hospital has led the regional health authority to strictly limit new admissions.
Vitalité Health Network says several measures have been taken including discharging certain patients early or transferring some patients to another care facility.
Only individuals who absolutely require hospitalization will be admitted and only urgent surgeries will be performed.
Sharon Smyth-Okana, Vice-President of Clinical Services, says these measures are necessary to reduce the patient overflow that both hospitals are currently experiencing.
“All our teams on the ground have been mobilized to find solutions to the current challenges and ensure that our patients receive safe and high quality care,” she explained.
“We are also concerned about ensuring that our employees have a safe and healthy work environment.”
Vitalité says overcrowding has been caused by several factors including COVID-19 preventive measures, a shortage of doctors and nurses and many long-term care patients are waiting for beds in nursing homes.
The new measures will be reevaluated in one week.
