The Ontario government has issued two emergency orders in response to the recent and significant increase in patients’ hospitalizations, ICU transfers, and the danger to the region’s critical care capability.
These orders aim to increase system capacity and ensure that facilities have the resources they need to care for their patients.
These temporary measures would enable health care staff and other employees currently employed in Ontario to be redeployed to hospitals. They would also give hospitals the ability to move patients to other hospitals if they are at risk of being overloaded. The province’s ICU capacity is projected to increase by up to 1,000 patient beds due to these orders.
The Canadian government has made substantial improvements and efforts over the last year to increase capacity and ensure Ontario’s healthcare system’s integrity. These include spending $5.1 billion to fund facilities and adding over 3,100 new hospital beds.
Even so, as the province battles the COVID-19 pandemic, better action is needed to optimize hospital resources and capability.
