THUNDER BAY – Patients transferred out of the overcrowded regional hospital remain in an unused wing of the Hogarth Riverview Manor long-term care home, even though the temporary arrangement was expected to end on March 31.
Earlier this year it was announced that 32 alternate level of care patients would be moved to help alleviate the overcapacity crisis at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, where multiple areas were of the facility were converted and repurposed to accommodate the overflow beds.
Those patients, whose needs did not require the acute care provided at the hospital, were taken to an unused wing of the Hogarth Riverview Manor long-term care home operated by St. Joseph’s Care Group. As many as 20 hospital staff members were also brought over to look after the patients in that new transitional care unit.
Nearly three weeks after that temporary solution was originally said to end, officials with the North West Local Health Integration Network confirmed patients are still at Hogarth Riverview Manor, though they did not provide a timeline for when those beds would be transitioned out of the facility.
“The North West LHIN, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Care Group continue to work with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care regarding the temporary transitional care use of Hogarth Riverview Manor to address overcapacity in the City of Thunder Bay while long-term care bed operations are finalized,” communications and engagement director Petronilla Ndebele said.
A harsh flu season put the hospital in a severe state of surge capacity – formerly known as gridlock, where at its peak there were 84 patients over its funded 375-bed capacity. Temporary overflow areas had been set up in areas such as ambulatory care, pediatric outpatient and recovery units. There were as many as 91 alternate level of care patients prior to the establishment of the temporary unit at Hogarth Riverview Manor.
Hospital officials said they were expecting to have a peak of as many as 427 patients on Wednesday, with an additional 30 in the transitional care unit.
While the North West LHIN, through the ministry, was said to be providing funding to help cover the costs of the transition at the time of the original announcement, the financial impacts of extending the temporary unit is not being disclosed.
“The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is supportive of extending the operation of (alternate level of care) beds at Hogarth Riverview Manor,” ministry spokeswoman Lena Ross said. “The North West Local Health Integration Network is conducting a financial review of the extended operations.”
The temporary unit was established in an area of the Hogarth Riverview Manor that St. Joseph’s Care Group has not been able to open, with the organization citing a shortage of personal support workers.
St. Joseph’s Care Group chief executive officer Tracy Buckler said the organization eventually intends to use those beds for their original purpose.
“We never want beds to be empty. They’re serving a useful purpose for sure, to help with the over-capacity in our system right now,” Buckler said.
“As soon as we get sufficient human resources to be able to use them as they’re intended for long-term care, then we would be using them for long-term care and not for over-capacity, which should, in turn, help the over-capacity situation.”
