Starting Nov. 14, SickKids will “prioritize urgent, emergency and (the) most time-sensitive surgeries” to free up staff and space to help the hospital care for the soaring number of kids needing care. Earlier this month, the province’s Critical Care COVID-19 Command Centre asked adult hospitals to accept critically ill teenagers 14 and older to create capacity in children’s hospitals. Mississauga Hospital’s emergency department remains open to pediatric patients, and those who need to be admitted will be transferred to CVH. “If respiratory illness prevalence continues to grow, we expect to see even larger pediatric (emergency department) and in-patient volumes,” Rogers said. Surgical wait times for kids have risen during the pandemic and will likely grow longer given the current pressures on pediatric hospitals.

Source: thestar November 12, 2022 01:23 UTC