The C-E-O for the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance says the next two weeks are going to be critical for hospitals throughout the province and Andrew Williams says they're asking people to be patient, continue to work together and continue to follow public health protocols.
Williams says the region has already accepted a number of admissions from the GTA.
"This region has accepted a number of admissions from the GTA. We have a number of people in our Stratford site currently from outside the region and we have been able to accommodate this really by, unfortunately, reducing surgery and re-deploying staff from that area into our intensive care unit."
Williams says things like wearing masks and distancing will be crucial in the next few weeks and ultimately it will be vaccines that will halt the spread. He believes supply will catch up with demand in the next two or three weeks and the latest information he has is that by the end of May, anybody eighteen or over is going to be able to qualify for a vaccine.
"So the latest information that we've seen is that by the end of May anybody eighteen or over is going to be able qualify for a vaccine, so that'll be really positive. The next couple of weeks are going to be tight in hospitals and our immediate focus right now is supporting the patients that are coming in and their families."
Williams adds, the movement of patients and staff required a great deal of cooperation between hospitals and he says every hospital in the southwest is part of the solution right now.
"Every hospital in the southwest is part of the solution right now and they're all really stepping up. We've actually had some staff transfer into the Stratford site from the Listowel Wingham Hospital Alliance to help with our ICU, so it really is a huge team effort and one that I think has really shown the importance of working as a system."
Williams adds, there's a lot of stress right now within their staff and within the community because we've all been dealing with this for a long time now. But he also believes people seeing some relief in the not-too-distant future, because of the vaccine.
