Windsor Regional Hospital paediatric admissions above normal capacity

Surge in paedatric admissions at local hospitals Medical experts worry matters will get worse before they get better with the so-called triple threat of illnesses. Rich Garton reports.

Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) officials say they, like other hospitals across the province, are seeing a surge in paediatric admissions.

Ontario’s medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore is “strongly recommending” masking in all indoor public settings as some paediatric units in hospitals say they have been overwhelmed by an influx of patients in recent weeks.

Dr. Moore has not issued a mandate, but made the recommendation during an announcement Sunday as Ontario faces what he described as “three major viral threats”: COVID-19, influenza, and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus).

“There's a lot of concern that these three respiratory illnesses are going to cause chaos and havoc and untenable stress on our hospital system. And we're seeing it right now,” said Dr. Raywat Deonandan, an epidemiologist at the University of Ottawa.

WRH officials say the increase has been felt locally as well with 23 young patients currently admitted to hospital, however, the paediatric capacity is only 16.

Officials say as per surge protocols, all 23 have been accommodated in patient rooms elsewhere in the hospital.

But Deonandan says the triple threat of illnesses is exposing more weaknesses in the hospital.

“The system as a whole has been struggling for many years COVID revealed the fragility of that system and this triple threat is now knocking it over with abandon.”

Dr. Deonandan says this should be a cause for concern for parents.

“I can only think about the terror of parents in that area,” he said. I mean, you have a child is struggling to breathe in the backseat of the car and you get to the hospital. There may not be space for you at the end. What kind of system is this?”

Officials at Erie Shores Healthcare say they do not admit paediatric patients. If a child is taken to the hospital through EMS or an emergency room visit, hospital staff will work to stabilize them but if they require thing beyond the most general treatment they are transferred to Windsor Regional Hospital.

Chatham-Kent Health Alliance officials say they are also seeing an increase in young children at the emergency department with respiratory viruses and other illnesses.

At this time, there is currently one paediatric inpatient at CKHA and that does fluctuate daily, officials say. The hospital has three paediatric beds with the ability to flex up to five if needed.

Dr. Deonandan says short-term, targeted mask mandates in specific settings would be appropriate to curb the spread of all three viruses.

“I don't want to be too alarmist but I think now's the time for alarmism," he said. "If we cannot protect the health and welfare of our children. What are we doing? I don’t think the public fully understands the magnitude of the problem and of the emergency and the fact that we are in a worse place now than we were in 2020. And it's only going to get worse.”

- With files from CTV Windsor's Rich Garton and CTV Toronto’s Phil Tsekouras.