THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre’s chief of staff says he hopes the latest rash of surgeries postponed because of COVID-19-related staff shortages are short-lived.
Dr. Bradley Jacobson on Thursday said due to the shortage, many elective surgery patients have been informed their procedures will have to be delayed, but assured patients in need of an immediate operation will still be operated on as quickly as possible.
“Surgeries that are being postponed are elective at this time and it’s not going to have an impact on the urgent or emergent surgeries at the Regional,” Jacobson said.
The hospital is still trying to play catch-up after two years of COVID-19 and its impact on the surgical capacity in Thunder Bay, with many non-elective surgeries pushed back as officials worked to keep patient levels low while bracing for an outbreak.
Jacobson said he’s confident the latest setback, won’t lead to a similar situation.
“I don’t think that this particular situation will lead to any further backlog that would be dramatic and have a huge impact on care,” he said. “Most of our staff are hoping to be able to return to work in a fairly short duration that will be safe both to their colleagues and to visitors at the hospital. I think the number will be small enough that we won’t notice as much of an impact."
Jacobson added that despite the Ontario government’s decision to end the five-day isolation period for anyone diagnosed with COVID-19, the hospital will continue to enforce the rule, meaning staff who are diagnosed will have to stay home for at least 10 days and until symptoms start to wane.Masks will also continue to remain mandatory.
It’s too soon to say how many surgeries have been postponed, he said.
“At this point in time I don’t have the exact number. I’m just working with our surgical team management chiefs about anesthesia and surgeries and the impact at this point in time. We’ll probably have a better idea by the end of the day or tomorrow as to the exact numbers.”
When staffing levels do take a hit because of COVID-19, Jacobson said the hospital is able to pivot and shuffle the staffing deck to ensure urgent care areas are properly staffed.
“We do feel the impact with the number of staff that have to go off for COVID isolation, recognizing that it will have an impact on care. What we’re doing in these instances is diverting resources to where they are needed most,” Jacobson said.
“If it’s reassignment of staff, prioritizing of surgeries and recognizing that the need to catch up on surgical backlogs, for example, will be an issue moving forward. Our team has been quite nimble throughout the process and recognize this is a day-by-day issue moving forward.”
