Hospitals across Ontario, including Barrie's Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH), will soon resume non-emergency/non-urgent surgeries and procedures.
With the steady decline recently in COVID-related hospitalizations and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions — in addition to stabilizing levels among health workers — the provincial government, in consultation with the chief medical officer of health and Ontario Health, will lift Directive 2 and begin a “gradual and cautious” resumption of surgeries and procedures that had been on hold.
With an estimated backlog of more than 8,000 cases, RVH staff are ready to get back to the operating room.
"We are delighted that case counts and overall COVID situation in the province is allowing Directive 2 to be rescinded and that we’re now starting to go into Phase 2 of the ramp up," RVH chief of staff Dr. Jeffrey Tyberg told BarrieToday on Friday. "We have a big backlog of cases, probably almost 7,000 cases that have backed up throughout the pandemic and close to 1,000 more since the shutdown on Jan. 4.
“We really want to take care of our patients and we empathize with these people who have been waiting a long time for their scheduled surgery," he added.
Tyberg said while emergency, urgent and cancer-related surgeries have continued during the pandemic, there are a lot of other patients still waiting to go under the knife.
“We are certainly happy to see the ability to ramp up to 70 per cent, with the possibility of going to Phase 3 at 90 per cent hopefully soon," he said. "We will be really happy to get to tackle the backlog of the other cases which, certainly to those people, I am sure feel urgent.”
Beginning next week, Tyberg said RVH will increase to eight operating rooms and one emergency trauma room out of the 11 available, and will await guidance from the province as to when they can open the remaining operating rooms.
“Thanks to the sacrifices of Ontarians and unwavering efforts of our health-care workers, we are now in a position to resume additional surgeries and procedures,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said in the news release. “We recognize the impact these measures have had on patients and together with our hospital partners we will ensure patients can continue to access the health care they need when they need it.”
Resumption of non-emergency and non-urgent surgeries and procedures will follow a planned phased approach across the province, in alignment with guidance provided by Ontario Health. The ministry noted that while these services “cautiously resume,” the province’s hospitals will continue to work in partnership to ensure that all regions have the capacity to resume services and that “no one is left behind” and will do so when local conditions permit.
The province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, credited Ontario residents getting their vaccine booster shots, while also adhering to public health and workplace safety measures, for the steady decline in COVID-related hospitalizations and ICU admissions.
Moore noted that while the months ahead will require continued vigilance, the hard work of residents has allowed officials to “gradually and cautiously” lift public health measures.
