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By paNOW Staff

INTENSIVE CARE

Saskatchewan to send six ICU patients to Ontario this week

Oct 18, 2021 | 11:27 AM

The province is about to send six patients from Saskatchewan hospitals to Intensive Care Units in Ontario.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority announced one patient will be transferred Monday with the other five expected by end of day Wednesday.

“Hospitalization admissions have decreased over the course of the last ten days but our ICUs are the lagging factor and they continue to remain too high in Saskatchewan,” said Premier Scott Moe during a press conference Monday morning.

Dr. Michael Warner, clinical director of critical care at a hospital in Toronto, also confirmed the move Monday morning.

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The SHA said this decision is being made due to capacity challenges and high demand for critical care in the province’s hospitals.

“We recognize the stress this will cause the families affected,” said Scott Livingstone, CEO of SHA. “We continue to work every day to maximize capacity to provide care as close to home as possible, but this decision is necessary to maintain the quality of critical care services our patients need. We are extremely thankful to our partners in Ontario for stepping up and providing this support.”

Last week, the SHA said it was preparing to send patients to Ontario hospitals as ICU capacity continues to be stretched. In the latest COVID-19 update, 81 patients with the virus were being treated in intensive care.

The province has also reached out to Manitoba about possibly accepting ICU patients from Saskatchewan if necessary.

The Provincial Emergency Operations Centre is also submitting a request for additional federal resources to address Saskatchewan’s hospital capacity challenges.

The SHA said the best way to reduce the strain on the province’s health care system and reduce the number of ICU admissions is to get vaccinated.

The number of patient transfers will be a part of the daily COVID-19 reporting starting Tuesday.

–With files from CKOM News

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

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