Urgent spaces for COVID-19 patients to be opened at Calgary's South Health Campus
Starting Monday, Alberta Health Services (AHS) is opening a number of spaces at two hospitals, one in Calgary and one in Edmonton, to help handle a suspected surge of cases from the Omicron wave of COVID-19.
Officials announced details of the beds, located inside the Pandemic Response Units (PRUs) at the Kaye Edmonton Clinic and Calgary's South Health Campus, during a Thursday afternoon media conference.
Premier Jason Kenney said that decision was made because of the "continued pressure" from the Omicron variant.
"We have to be mindful of that, particularly in non-intensive care beds – regular ward beds. We now have a little over 1,000 patients admitted either for or with COVID in those beds," he said.
Kenney adds those patients must be treated differently and isolated from the rest of the hospital population when necessary, which is where the PRUs come in.
Dr. Verna Yiu, the CEO of AHS, says the health-care system is at 89 per cent capacity. However, without the steps they've already taken to increase the number of care beds, Alberta would be closer to 93 per cent capacity.
"This can change really quickly," she said. "This past weekend, the number of Albertans needing hospital care increased by almost 100 people. Our internal warning system tool shows us that we can expect numbers to keep increasing for a while yet."
The spaces at the Kaye Edmonton Clinic and South Health Campus were set up earlier in the pandemic for urgent needs and, Yiu says, the surge of Omicron cases led to AHS activating some of those beds.
"The Kaye clinic will open 18 beds in the coming week, and there are plans to open another 18 beds the week of Jan. 31," she said.
"South Health Campus unit will open 12 beds initially with plans to open another 12 beds. We will only use these beds if we have to and, going forward, additional beds will be opened as needed and as staff availability allows."
(Supplied/AHS)
HOSPITALIZATIONS WILL DROP SOON: HEALTH MINISTER
While hospitalizations related to new infections are still increasing, the government says the Omicron wave has plateaued and they will begin to drop, but it's not known when that will happen.
"We know that cases will rise over the next few weeks and hospitalizations will rise with them," Health Minister Jason Copping said. "They will come down, but we don't know when."
Copping says the focus needs to remain on health-care workers who are continuing to care for patients.
"I am grateful to everyone working in our hospitals across our health-care system, from EMS to labs to family doctor's to home care and continuing care providers. We need all of you and we know that you're tired, you've been through this for over two years and you need to get back to caring for patients in a more normal fashion.
"We all need to get back to living normally and we will get there."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.