350 Trillium hospital staff off with COVID-19 as 16 per cent of patients test positive

Trillium Health Partners say 16 per cent of the patients in their hospitals are currently testing positive for COVID-19 as they deal with 350 staff members off sick.

President and CEO Karlie Farrow shared the news in Mississauga’s weekly COVID-19 update, the first Mayor Bonnie Crombie has attended since testing positive for the virus before Christmas. 

Farrow said while they have 200 patients who are in hospital testing positive for COVID-19, only 87 of those people are hospitalized because of COVID-19. The 16 per cent of patients testing positive is up from nine per cent just a week ago.

They expect the number to keep increasing as the Omicron variant continues to spread.

“Thankfully we have a high rate of vaccination in the community. It is helping us ensure that not as many people are going to the ICU,” added Farrow. She said the number of patients requiring critical care would be twice as high if it weren’t for vaccinations.

To supplement the absent staff, they have redeployed over 150 staff from other areas of the hospital, including surgery, as non-emergent surgeries have been paused at the direction of the provincial government. Farrow said she expects the number of staff off sick to continue to increase.

Only essential caregivers are currently allowed in the hospitals in order to prevent further spread of COVID-19 in the hospital. “This decision did not come easily but it is intended to protect the safety of our people that are providing care and move importantly our patients,” said Farrow.

Crombie said the city of Mississauga is also experiencing staff shortages, but assured residents they are in a stable position and currently have a contingency plan in place.

“This continuity plan allows us to prioritize in maintain essential and critical services even if staff shortages were to get as high as 40 per cent,” said Crombie. “While we hope we never get to that point, we are ready to scale up or scale down operations across the organization based on current available staff and redeploy staff from non-essential rolls into essential roles if needed.”

Mississauga Transit, like GO transit, has been forced to reduce some services because of this. MiWay has temporarily suspended service on routes 101 and 101a Dundas Express, 107 Malton Express and have reduced service on route 103 Hurontario express.

During the update, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Lawrence Loh once again reminded residents to get vaccinated and get booster as soon as possible.

“If you choose to remain unvaccinated at this time, you remain at the highest risk for severe outcomes including hospitalizations and ICU at a time where our hospitals can ill afford additional care demands,” urged Dr. Loh. “If you are an unvaccinated adult, you are going to become part of the Omicron wave that is threatening our hospitals.”

He also said parents should be taking this time as schools remain closed for in-person learning to get their children aged five to 11 vaccinated.