THUNDER BAY — Dr. Peter Voros wants residents of the Thunder Bay area to wash their hands regularly and—if they haven't done so already—get a flu immunization shot.
Voros is the executive vice-president of inpatient care programs at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
In an interview Thursday afternoon, he said the greater the number of people who avoid getting the flu, the easier it will be for the hospital as it steels itself for what he's already hearing described as a looming "bad" season for influenza.
Patients with the flu need to be isolated from other patients to reduce the risk of further spread, placing additional stress on hospital resources.
"Since December 17th we've had 45 confirmed cases of influenza (within the hospital) and those kinds of isolations and other isolations really require us to be in 'surge', " Dr. Voros said.
Surge capacity is the HSC's term for situations in which all the hospital's beds are occupied, leaving admitted patients waiting in the Emergency Department.
The health sciences centre returned to surge capacity on Thursday after a three-day reprieve between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.
"Our visits to emerg (the Emergency Department) were down a bit, allowing us to get out of surge as patients were also discharged from the hospital," the doctor noted.
Patient numbers began to climb again by Thursday morning, however.
With over two dozen people in the Emergency Department waiting for a bed to open up, the HSC once again declared a surge situation.
The hospital has operated at over-capacity for more than 90 per cent of the time since the beginning of 2018.
Relief has come from access to 64 transitional care beds for hospital Alternative Level of Care patients who can be relocated to Hogarth Riverview Manor.
Although the number of admitted hospital patients is similar to what it was last year at this time, the fact that 64 can be looked after outside the hospital itself creates what Voros described as "better flow" inside the building.
He reiterated, though, that "it's important as a community" for Thunder Bay and area residents to play their part by taking precautions against the flu this winter.
