Windsor Regional Hospital will be accepting 40 new patients from the Greater Toronto Area starting on Sunday.
EMS from Windsor-Essex, Sarnia-Lambton, and Chatham-Kent will be assisting in the patient transfers. The teams will be transferring five patients a day over the course of eight days.
"We expect that these patients would be brought to Windsor for treatment on a ward/medical unit though we cannot assume the conditions of these patients would not warrant ICU care at some point during their stay," read a statement issued on behalf of CEO David Musyj, Chief Operating Officer Karen Riddell and Chief of Staff Dr. Wassim Saad.
Earlier this week, the hospital said the greater Erie St. Clair region was expected to take 14 patients between four local hospitals. However, the situation has evolved since the previous announcement.
"The fact that our numbers of COVID-19 patients regionally has remained relatively stable and along with all Ontario hospitals we have been directed to stop non-emergent and non-urgent surgeries gives us the capacity and more ability to take on additional patients from other sites," said the statement.
On Thursday morning, the Windsor Essex County Health Unit reported 20 patients in local hospitals who had tested positive for COVID-19 and three of those were in the intensive care unit.
The hospital stated it does have ICU capacity at this time if patients need increased care during their stay in Windsor-Essex.
