More than 400 visits to Flu Assessment Centre

Monday, November 16, 2009

The temporary Flu Assessment Centre operated by Niagara Health System (NHS) closed on Sunday, November 15, 2009.

Between November 2 and 15, the Flu Assessment Centre at the Ontario Street Site in St. Catharines treated a total of 437 patients, helping to take some of the pressure off the Emergency Rooms (ERs) and Urgent Care Centres (UCCs) by redirecting patients with mild flu symptoms to the centre.

“At its peak, the Flu Assessment Centre saw 64 patients in one day,” says Anne Atkinson, Vice President Patient Services. “However, the number of patients going to the Flu Assessment Centre has declined significantly over the last week. This is consistent with the number of patients in our ERs and UCCs, which is coming back to more normal activity levels.”... » cont’d

Regular surgical schedule resumes

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Niagara Health System (NHS) is returning to the regular surgical schedule effective Thursday, November 12, with the exception of pediatric day surgical cases.

“Postponing a surgical procedure is not something that we take lightly, appreciating the burden that this delay can place on our patients and their families,” says Anne Atkinson, Vice President Patient Services. “We truly regret that we had to cancel surgeries, but it was absolutely necessary to respond to the increase we were seeing in the number of patients requiring hospital treatment and the number of staff calling in sick... » cont’d

Further visiting restrictions implemented to prevent spread of flu illness

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

The Niagara Health System (NHS) is taking additional steps to reduce the number of visitors across its seven sites to help prevent the spread of flu illness.

Effective today, as a temporary measure, visitors must be 16 years of age or older except for compassionate reasons. This restriction is due to the risk to inpatients, children and staff, and it is consistent with measures other hospitals in our Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) area are taking... » cont’d