The following was received from Pembroke Regional Hospital (PRH) April 9:
In order to ensure that there are enough beds and staffing to support the care of COVID-19 patients and additional patients who may require transfer to the Pembroke Regional Hospital from other health care facilities who are experiencing over-capacity, PRH will be deferring all elective inpatient surgeries effective Monday, April 12th.
These surgeries could include procedures such as joint replacements which require an overnight stay.
“This is in response to an order issued late Thursday night by Ontario Health to all hospitals in the province,” said PRH President and CEO Pierre Noel. “It is not a decision we take lightly and we recognize the impact this will have on some of our patients, but it is a direct reflection of the seriousness of the pandemic and in particular the rising rates of cases and variants of concern throughout the province, including the Ottawa area.”
“We want to assure Renfrew County residents that at this time, while elective inpatient surgeries are being deferred, the rest of our hospital services will continue to be offered and will not be impacted at this time,” Mr. Noel said.
Anyone whose surgery will need to be deferred will be contacted directly by the hospital or by their surgeon’s office. At this time, Mr. Noel said the hospital has not been provided with any details regarding timelines for when the deferred procedures can be rescheduled.
Sabine Mersmann, Senior Vice-President of Clinical and Support Services – Partnerships and Integration, noted that where possible, and as a way of supporting the current stay-at-home order, some hospital services that have the ability to transition to a virtual delivery method may do so and that in these cases patients will be also be notified.
“These changes being announced today come in the midst of a very fluid situation,” Ms. Mersmann said. “As a result, we anticipate that there may be further changes in the coming days and weeks which we will communicate through our social media channels and our website. We are hopeful that as the situation improves elective inpatient surgeries will be able to resume relatively quickly.”
In the meantime, the Pembroke Regional Hospital continues to be a safe place to come for medical care due to the safety measures in place to protect patients, staff and physicians.
“Time is of the essence when treating many serious medical conditions so now is not the time to ignore symptoms or hesitate if you feel it is an emergency. A delay in seeking care could have a lasting impact on your outcome,” Ms. Mersmann said.
Levesque,C.(2021,Apr.9) In Response To A New Provincial Order The Pembroke Regional Hospital Will Be Deferring All Elective Inpatient Surgeries Starting April 12 [media release]
photo facebook/prh
