The North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC) has begun accepting patient transfers from southern Ontario.
“The patients we receive in the [Critical Care Unit] will be ventilated,” said Dr. Jennifer Mihill, Clinical Pandemic Lead for the NBRHC, adding ventilated patients are easier to transfer.
The hospital confirmed Friday during a media briefing that it has already taken in one COVID-19 patient from another region, with another in transfer.
The hospital has a 16-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with the capacity to convert a recovery room into another seven to 12 beds.
“It’s tough to say how many exactly patients we would take, We just constantly assess the situation,” Dr. Mihill noted.
Earlier in the week, the province ordered all Ontario hospitals to begin ramping down elective surgeries as beds begin to fill. Mihill confirmed the NBRHC is following that direction and has begun its ramp-down.
“We are poised to take care of everyone in the community here…as well as help southern Ontario,” she affirmed.
A record 818 people are in ICUs in Ontario as of Friday morning.
