Toronto hospital network suspends non-emergency surgeries due to Omicron variant

Unity Health Toronto staff have announced the hospital network is suspending non-emergency surgeries and ambulatory care services due to the rapid rise of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.

“It has become very clear that we are facing another significant surge of COVID-19 in Toronto and across Ontario. This new variant, Omicron, is presenting all of us with a number of challenges and uncertainties,” Tim Rutledge, the president and CEO of Unity Health Toronto, said in a statement posted on the hospital’s website on Monday.

“We are taking steps at Unity Health Toronto to protect your health care services so we can make sure we are able to provide care to those most in need during this wave of the pandemic.”

According to Rutledge’s statement, all non-essential surgeries and ambulatory care services are “temporarily on hold with the exception of urgent and emergent cases.”

For patients who have in-person visits for non-essential ambulatory services, those appointments will be conducted virtually when possible.

“We know that any change we make to our services is distressing and challenging for our staff, patients and loved ones, and we will ramp up as soon as it’s safe to do so,” Rutledge wrote.

RELATED: Ontario reports slight drop in new COVID cases

“Right now, we need to focus all of our efforts, our people and resources on caring for our patients and keeping up with this deadly virus.”

It wasn’t clear which ambulatory care services would be impacted. Further information on how the measures would help address capacity and response concerns wasn’t immediately available.

Unity Health Toronto operates St. Michael’s Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Providence Healthcare.

The statement came hours after the Ontario government expanded the eligibility of COVID-19 booster vaccine doses to residents 18 and above who received their second vaccine dose at least three months ago.

When it comes to new daily cases, officials said there were 3,784 new confirmed infections over 24 hours on Monday morning. That tally is slightly down from Sunday’s 4,177 cases, which was the highest since April 23, when Ontario was two weeks into its last stay-at-home order mandate.

To combat the variant, the provincial government reintroduced capacity limits in many indoor settings effective Sunday, including restaurants, retailers, personal care services and gyms. Social gatherings have been limited to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors.

With files from Patricia D’Cunha of CityNews