The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital was overcrowded, with more than 1,000 people transferred to other regional hospitals in April, and an elderly Chinese woman was transferred to Peterborough without her family’s knowledge.
According to data provided by the Ornge Flying Ambulance Service, the number of patients transferred to hospitals in most areas soared to unprecedented levels in the face of the third wave of the epidemic, from about 200-250 per month from January to March to more than 1,000 in April, with most patients transferred from the epidemic hotspots of Brampton Civic Hospital The majority of patients were transferred from the outbreak hotspots of Brampton Civic Hospital, Etobicoke General Hospital, and Humber River Hospital to hospitals as far away as Ottawa and Owen Sound.
Michael Lewell, Ornge’s deputy medical officer in charge of patient transfers, told the Star, “So far, we’ve maintained the hospital’s capacity by transporting hundreds and hundreds of patients.”
The mass transfer of patients has allowed the hospital to make room for a surge of new crown cases, with many critically ill patients requiring sedation and ventilators during the transfer process, and their families paying the price.
Rita Pang said her mother, Anna, 69, was transferred from Scarborough to Peterborough late last month. She said the family was unaware of the decision until the transfer.
We don’t know when this happened,” she questioned. Why? Why Peterborough? Imagine if she had been sent to Wetbilly (Sudbury) or Thunder Bay (Thunder Bay).”
In April, hospitals in both northern Ontario cities, as well as other small communities outside of London, such as St. Thomas, received many transfers of patients. Kingston General Hospital had the highest number of admissions, 89, and Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital in Wantage had 80.
Leveille said, “Every hospital has ICU capacity issues, and we transport patients outside the GTA.”
A record number of transfers was reached on the day of April 22, with 80 people throughout the day. Most of the patients were confirmed or suspected cases of new crowns. The patients were not yet severe enough to require ambulance transport, and specially trained Ornge paramedics assisted with transport by helicopter or medical aircraft, LeVell said.
Ponita said her mother was admitted to Birchmount Hospital in Scarborough after feeling unable to breathe and feeling very ill on April 25, and then transferred to Peterborough the same day or the next day.
Initially, Anna was placed in the same ward with her husband Peter, a couple from Hong Kong who are both New Crown patients. “But on the second night, all of a sudden, we got a phone call from a pharmacy person at a hospital in Peterborough saying, ‘Oh, your mother is here,'” recalls Panglita.
She says, “We were really shocked, even the person who hung up the phone, as if to ask, didn’t you know your mother had been transferred?”
While she was relieved that her mother had not been moved further away, she was concerned that the family had not been informed before the transfer.
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