'They are telling me how overwhelmed our ICU is': Victoria hospitals see influx of COVID-19 patients
Crystal Mundy says she is speaking on behalf of 20 doctors and nurses at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria who are afraid to come forward.
“They are telling me about how overwhelmed our ICU is,” says Mundy.
She has been following B.C.’s covid-19 numbers closely and speaking about them on social media. She says over the last two weeks, more health-care workers in Victoria have been writing to her, venting their frustrations.
“They have stated that there has just been a very big increase in terms of pressure and resources, in cases of COVID coming in,” says Mundy.
She is hearing from staff that the ICU is at capacity, that beds in other areas of the hospital are being repurposed to treat COVID-19 patients and surgeries are being bumped.
“With the significant increase in COVID cases across Island Health over the past few weeks we are seeing increasing impacts on our hospitals, including our critical care units,” Island Health said in a statement to CTV News.
“Last week, in response to increasing hospitalizations, we establish an inpatient unit for COVID patients at Victoria General Hospital to help support the increased demand for patients requiring hospitalization, but who do not require critical care,” the health authority added.
Mundy claims she is also hearing the current staffing shortage has staff at a breaking point.
“There are workers that have been sick, there’s workers that have left, there’s workers that maybe aren’t vaccinated that aren’t coming in,” says Mundy. “Whether or not they can physically take another patient, the mental well-being of these workers can’t take any more.”
Island Health admits the increased number of COVID-19 patients is challenging health-care teams.
Mundy says she fears the problem could become dire.
“If we have something like a big car crash or a ferry accident or something like that, we would have no resources to deal with that right now,” says Mundy. “We would have none.”
Island Health says it can implement surge critical care beds should they be required.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.