Let's hope our beloved Montreal's first phase of reopening in two weeks goes well.
But hospitals' could become overwhelmed. Let's hope for the best.
"Quebec has two weeks to clear a backlog of COVID-19 patients recovering in Montreal-area hospitals, physicians say, or the city's health-care facilities won't be prepared for the reopening of schools and businesses.
Hospitals in the Montreal area are currently running out of beds, three weeks after health authorities stopped sending elderly patients back into the province's long-term care network, where the coronavirus continues to spread and claim dozens of lives each day.
"This is a new problem and it needs to be addressed fast," said Gilbert Boucher, head of Quebec's association of emergency medicine specialists.
"There are a certain amount of beds dedicated to COVID-positive patients on the island of Montreal. And those are full. There are still other beds in the hospitals that are empty, but they are fewer and fewer."
. . . .
The province has set aside roughly 700 beds around Montreal to serve as temporary recovery wards, converting hotels, hockey rinks and other sites to accommodate the hospital overflow.
But on Wednesday, Health Minister Danielle McCann said the massive staffing shortage in the health-care system — more than 11,000 workers are absent daily — is limiting how many patients can be transferred to these temporary wards.
"We have the physical locations, but we don't have the personnel to transfer more people who are currently in hospitals but who could be moved to the buffer zones," McCann told reporters."
But hospitals' could become overwhelmed. Let's hope for the best.
"Quebec has two weeks to clear a backlog of COVID-19 patients recovering in Montreal-area hospitals, physicians say, or the city's health-care facilities won't be prepared for the reopening of schools and businesses.
Hospitals in the Montreal area are currently running out of beds, three weeks after health authorities stopped sending elderly patients back into the province's long-term care network, where the coronavirus continues to spread and claim dozens of lives each day.
"This is a new problem and it needs to be addressed fast," said Gilbert Boucher, head of Quebec's association of emergency medicine specialists.
"There are a certain amount of beds dedicated to COVID-positive patients on the island of Montreal. And those are full. There are still other beds in the hospitals that are empty, but they are fewer and fewer."
. . . .
The province has set aside roughly 700 beds around Montreal to serve as temporary recovery wards, converting hotels, hockey rinks and other sites to accommodate the hospital overflow.
But on Wednesday, Health Minister Danielle McCann said the massive staffing shortage in the health-care system — more than 11,000 workers are absent daily — is limiting how many patients can be transferred to these temporary wards.
"We have the physical locations, but we don't have the personnel to transfer more people who are currently in hospitals but who could be moved to the buffer zones," McCann told reporters."
