While the COVID-19 pandemic has meant some changes for St. Joseph’s Hospital, in other ways, it has been business as usual.
The hospital was declared a non-COVID hospital earlier this month by the Saskatchewan Health Authority, as part of the modelling plans for the pandemic that included best-case scenarios and worst-case scenarios.
“We are still treating in-patients, treating emergency patients,” said St. Joseph’s Hospital CEO Greg Hoffort.
The hospital has treatment areas related to chemotherapy, renal dialysis and obstetrics that meet the needs of the vulnerable, setting it apart from other hospitals in the southeast. Those are services that can’t stop in the midst of what’s happening, so St. Joseph’s has to do all they can to keep vulnerable patients safe as well.
As a non-COVID hospital, St. Joseph’s is making preparations in case they do encounter cases of the virus.
“What is different about being the non-COVID hospital is we still are preparing ourselves in case a surge ever comes, a spike in patients related to the COVID-19 outbreak. And though many patients will be directed to a COVID hospital, the potential is for other non-COVID patients to be directed to us.”
The hospital can’t wait for its first case of COVID-19 to start preparing. They have made some changes in their operations, with an even greater emphasis on cleaning, and they have been screening people who come into the hospital to ensure visitors have an emergent or care issue to be there.
“We’re going to accept all emergent patients and all patients in need of our care, just like we are today. The hospital is not locked up to patients in need of care that can’t be provided in a clinic or that can’t wait.”
Some patients who visit might not know they have the disease when they come in, which is why the hospital is taking the precautions.
“It is quite a challenge, in general, for the health authority that we’re in daily discussions with, and for the hospitals, individually, to prepare for what we hope doesn’t happen, but we have to be ready for it,” Hoffort said.
He believes the actions of the provincial government and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health, and the diligence of the public, have resulted in comparatively lower numbers in Saskatchewan versus other jurisdictions.
Not only has St. Joseph’s not encountered a diagnosed case, but the number of cases for southern Saskatchewan has remained stable at 15 for most of April. Patients are being tested at the hospital and at a remote location in the community, and Saskatchewan continues to be among the national leaders in per capita testing for the disease.
In the meantime, Hoffort urges people to exercise common sense and to remember the rules in place. There isn’t an option for staff to stay home, and there isn’t an option for St. Joe’s to stop offering services.
“There are, as always, patients in need of our emergency department. There are inpatients right now at St. Joseph’s Hospital in need of our care in our medical unit. There are patients in ICU when they need to be, in addition to dialysis and chemotherapy and emergent lab tests and emergent x-ray tests.”
And they have to be mindful of the needs of the residents of the special care home as well.
