The Emergency Department at Headwaters Health Care Centre is expected to be busier than usual this weekend, but we are still here to care for our community when emergency services are needed. Rest assured that if you need emergency care, our dedicated team of health care professionals is here to serve you.
We are experiencing higher than normal nursing staff shortages in emergency services and critical care, and expect higher than normal patient volumes in Emergency over the next few days. As a result, we made the difficult decision to close the Intensive Care Unit over the long weekend in September, from Friday, September 3 at 7:30am to Tuesday, September 7 at 7:30am.
This decision was not made lightly, and is required to allow the hospital to focus nursing resources to support patients in the Emergency Department right now. If there are any patients who require critical care services, we will follow our usual processes to provide them with care through Criticall Ontario support.
Criticall Ontario is a provincial resource funded by the Ministry of Health to support health care providers in ensuring their patients can access necessary emergency care as close to home as possible. When care is needed beyond what is possible within the resources available in a hospital, Criticall facilitates getting the patient to the best place for them to receive the care they need.
We are in unprecedented times right now as we continue to navigate the challenges and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goal is to keep our critical care services open at all times. We will continue to evaluate our resources and make every effort possible to maintain service levels without interruption.
We always want people to seek Emergency care if they need it, any time of day or night. It is our job as health professionals to manage our resources, so people should always come to Emergency if they need urgent care and they can rest assured that they will get the care they need.
We are asking the community to consider your visit to Headwaters Emergency Department this weekend.
If your health concerns are urgent, or you have an injury requiring immediate care please trust your judgement and come to the hospital.
However, some things like prescription renewals, follow up care, or minor bumps and scrapes can be dealt with at a walk-in clinic or your family doctor. You can find a list of these
here.