'We are full capacity and have only two beds available now'; STEGH facing 'dire situation'

St. Thomas, Ont. -

CTV News had planned to speak to St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital (STEGH) Chief of Staff Dr. Waleed Chehadi Saturday, regarding what he is calling a 'dire situation' in his hospital. However he is so busy dealing with patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) he couldn't leave his post.

"It is very busy and patients are very acute and sick," says Dr. Chehadi who only had time to answer one question.

"I am constantly thinking about the next patient that's going to come through and whether I'm going to be able to care for them."

STEGH President and CEO Karen Davies took Dr. Chehadi's place for the interview.

"We're at full capacity and there's only two hospital beds available right now," says Davies.

"We added 22 extra beds to this hospital many months ago because of the pandemic and the increase in the occupancy. Having 13 extra COVID patients makes a big difference because those patients are really resource intensive."

Davies says 13 patients doesn't seem like much, but it's pushed their ICU to the limit.

"Our ICU capacity, which is level three (the highest level) is at capacity, and because of that we've had to send to COVID patients requiring a level of care to London in the last 18 hours."

Hospital officials say the number of cases in Elgin County is rising at an unprecedented rate with more than 150 active positive cases in Southwestern Public Health (SWPH).

Patients needing critical care are at the highest it has been since the start of the pandemic.

SWPH has seen double digit positive cases daily recently, and a few COVID-19 related deaths.

Eighty-four per cent of the region is double-vaccinated, but the unvaccinated are driving the hospital cases. That includes the N5H postal code in Aylmer, Ont. and Malahide Township.

"We do serve as a community that has a high rate of not being vaccinated, and all 13 COVID patients in hospital are unvaccinated," says Davies.

"So they are coming into our emergency department. Our message to them is first and foremost, please get vaccinated, wear a mask and be kind. If you can't get vaccinated, you choose not to get vaccinated and you're sick with COVID like symptoms, please don't wait to seek care. We're seeing people that are staying home until they're very sick and critically ill and then coming to the emergency department. It's easier and better outcomes for them if they come and seek care earlier."

Earlier this week Medical officer of health Dr. Joyce Lock said it's very important that everyone in the region has access to a hospital bed if necessary.

"I think there is an onus on us to perhaps take more stringent measures and we are re-evaluating capacity limits," says Lock.

"We're going to be looking very carefully at the data to determine whether that would help prevent the spread and free up some more space within our health care institutions."

Lock says if you haven't been vaccinated, now is the time to help relieve stress on STEGH.

"If you had a vaccine and you do happen to get the infection it will be much more mild," says Lock.

"You have about a 30 to 35 per cent less chance being up in the ICU and you have about a 20 per cent less chance of ending up in the hospital. We have seen deaths in our community recently with people who had COVID so it is a reality out there. That it's still a very serious illness much, much more serious for those who are unvaccinated."

Davies is worried going forward that as people start moving indoors this trend could continue.

"Our accountability is to make sure that we're available to care for the residents of St. Thomas and Elgin County," says Davies.

"People need our Emergency Department as they have accidents, heart attacks, they fall off ladders putting Christmas tree lights up, and we still need to be here for them. My concern right now is our ICU is at full capacity. And should somebody need level three ICU care, we'll have to send them outside of our hospital."