Erie Shores HealthCare is preparing for an increase in influenza cases in the coming weeks as the hospital continues to deal with significant occupancy pressures. During Tuesday’s board of directors meeting, president and CEO Kristin Kennedy said occupancy has remained above 110 per cent for much of the past year, and the hospital expects demand to increase as respiratory illnesses spread. According to Public Health Ontario, there were 360 positive influenza cases reported across the province between Oct. 18 and Oct. 24, up from 305 the previous week and 225 the week before that. Meanwhile, Erie Shores HealthCare will not reopen its dedicated pediatric respiratory clinic this flu season. The clinic operated once a week last year, but Kennedy said demand was not high enough to continue the program. COVID-19 and RSV activity remain low, but influenza is the primary concern. “We do anticipate occupancy pressures to increase probably over the next two weeks. We’ve seen low activity around COVID, RSV and influenza at this point. I would say less than five per cent at Erie Shores HealthCare. But we do anticipate influenza rising over the next two to three weeks,” said Kennedy. said Erie Shores HealthCare, Windsor Regional Hospital and Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare remain in regular contact to support one another. “There are strategies in place both at Windsor Regional and Erie Shores to work together with our long-term care homes to look at transitional beds so that we can minimize blockages of beds and no-bed admissions in our ER, and bed patients as needed and open additional beds as we need to with existing staffing,” she said. said the pediatric respiratory clinic will not reopen this year. “The uptake was too low here at the hospital because our pediatrician was able to open a clinic in the community itself as opposed to physically on the hospital site. And so we are going to monitor that strategy this year and ensure that that’s the proper place for our patients,” she said. said influenza activity is expected to peak during the first two weeks of the new year. Anyone six months of age or older who lives, works or attends school in Ontario is eligible for a free flu and COVID-19 vaccine. Residents can contact their primary care provider or a participating pharmacy and are encouraged to call ahead to confirm vaccine availability.
