The Ottawa Hospital General Campus taps into overflow space to manage flu season pressures

To weather a tough flu season, The Ottawa Hospital General Campus has tapped into unconventional overflow space. CTV’s Austin Lee reports.

It was a tough holiday season for Belleville resident Jatin Jatin, who says he battled influenza for more than a week.

“I was unable to sleep, I was having a 105 fever, I was unable to go into work. I took like, ten days off,” he said.

“I even went to the [Belleville] hospital overnight because of my fever. There were some really rough days. Even some of my brother and cousins were sick for a few days.”

Jatin’s story is far from unique in eastern Ontario as cases of influenza and hospitalizations remain high.

In response, the Ottawa Hospital General Campus has been forced to tap into some of its overflow spaces to meet demand.

“The Ottawa Hospital is currently experiencing high patient volumes and an increase in influenza cases, which is placing pressure on our emergency departments. This is typical for this time of year, as respiratory illnesses, and seasonal health-care needs rise in the community,” a spokesperson for the hospital said in a statement to CTV News.

“As we often do around this time of year, TOH has prepared several temporary, unconventional spaces to help improve ambulance offload times and patient flow throughout the hospital. This includes a dedicated space at the General Campus in the former ambulance bay.”

The hospital says that space has capacity for up to 20 patients, allowing healthcare staff to care for patients awaiting admission while at the same time, preserving access to the emergency department for new arrivals.

Using the old ambulance bay for overflow capacity is something the hospital announced in January 2023.

“The space is continuously monitored and adapted to support patient safety and comfort, and patients receive the same high-quality care they would in any other part of the hospital,” read part of the statement.

“We continue to follow strict infection prevention and control measures, including screening and testing, to help keep patients, staff and visitors safe. Masks are required for symptomatic patients or patients on precautions, as well as in the Emergency Department waiting room, on units experiencing an outbreak and on units identified as “high alert” for outbreaks.”

While flu season continues to put pressure on hospitals across Ontario, there are positive signs things could be reaching a more sustainable level according to the medical officer of health for the Eastern Ontario Health unit, Dr. Paul Roumeliotis.

“Right now, I’m seeing a bit of a downturn, however, that’s not to say that we are out of the influenza season. It’s still high. It seems like it has taken a turn for the better, however, we’re still seeing that hospital admissions are still up. ER visits are still up,” he said, adding there are still some concerning reports.

“We’re seeing a number of outbreaks. In just my area now, there are seven active influenza type A outbreaks. To-date, we’ve had over 400 cases of influenza A in just my area and that’s more than double, if not two and a half times more than what we usually get, but it seems to have stabilized a bit.”

Dr. Roumeliotis adds eastern Ontario is still expecting more waves of the flu to make its way through the region, and he’s urging people who have not yet done so, to get their flu shot.

“This is influenza type A that we’re seeing, and typically, in springtime, when influenza A goes down, we see influenza B going up a bit. So again, if people are questioning whether it’s too late for them to get a flu shot, absolutely not,” he said.

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