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LTC outbreaks contributing to hospital vacancy struggles

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On a daily basis, London-Middlesex EMS is responding to COVID-19 calls in long-term care (LTC) facilities like the one on Oakcrossing Road in London, Ont.

It's putting pressure on hospitals which are struggling to get patients discharged.

“This morning, we were absolutely full with no beds available,” says Alasdair Smith, acting CEO of Middlesex Health Alliance which oversees hospitals in Newbury and Strathroy, Ont. “We had patients waiting in emerge [emergency] in both of Strathroy and Four Counties to get admitted through the day.”

It’s the same struggle at most hospitals in our region these days.

There are a dozen LTC or retirement facilities in the area which are in COVID-19 outbreak which is directly impacting the number of alternate level of care (ALC) patients in hospital.

ALC patients don’t need to be in hospital, but they also can't send them back into that setting.

“We have 50-odd beds here at Strathroy, [and] 16 are occupied by people who don't need to be here,” says Smith.

Smiths adds, “We can't get them out to a location. At Four Counties, we have 12 beds and eight of them are occupied by ALC patients. So it impacts our ability to see new patients or a new patient or emerge.”

Longworth Retirement Residence has a facility-wide COVID-19 outbreak (Brent Lale/CTV News London)One of those 12 retirement or LTC facilities is London's Longworth Retirement Residence which has a facility-wide outbreak.

Nicole Albers believes Longworth is doing a great job with her 90-year-old mother.

“In all honesty, she's vaccinated maybe even five times — definitely four times — so I have seen it happen before and I know that they do a great job there,” says Albers. “Pretty well they're staying into their rooms, so I’m not overly concerned, to be totally truthful.”

The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) is reporting more than 200 COVID-positive cases over the past four days. Trends indicate this seventh wave is on its downswing, and MLHU Medical Officer of Health Dr. Alex Summers says we are in a better place to handle outbreaks than any time during the pandemic.

“The massive amount of effort to vaccinate patients and staff has been essential in the protection we do have,” says Summers. “However the number of outbreaks is a reminder that COVID is still here.”

Back in Strathroy, Smith says the hospital is facing pressure on a daily basis with staffing issues, COVID-19 case counts and transfers from other hospitals.

“We're very tight,” says Smith. “The COVID situation doesn't help, and the inability to discharge some of those patients doesn't help either.” 

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