Health minister Adrian Dix announced an Emergency Operations Centre will be established at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, and others around B.C. to handle increasing admissions and patient volumes. (NanaimoNewsNOW/BC Government photos)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

heavy demand

NRGH among 20 hospitals to have emergency operation centre reactivated to manage patient flow

Jan 6, 2023 | 1:43 PM

NANAIMO — With the number of sick patients requiring acute care, the Ministry of Health announced a strategy to ease congestion at the province’s busiest hospitals.

The province’s Minister of Health Adrian Dix revealed at a Friday, Jan. 6 news conference the re-introduction of emergency operation centres (EOC’s) with emergency room capacity tested during a severe respiratory illness season.

Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) will be among the facilities to see the designation re-implemented for at least six weeks starting on Monday, Jan. 9, which includes leadership teams reviewing bed availability.

“There will be a daily focus on ensuring that there’s adequate space to welcome new patients into the hospital, that will be a key part of it. It’s also adding resources as we have been to places like emergency rooms and addressing patient flow.”

Dix said the EOC strategy, initially used during the COVID-19 pandemic, will see hospital staff support patients as they re-integrate back into the community.

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With nearly 10,300 people in the province receiving acute care in B.C. hospitals as of Thursday, Jan. 5, Dix reported a significant rise recently in the number of people requiring hospital admission.

“We need to manage the situation that we have and then ensure that we have space potentially for people that need care.”

Dix said the EOC’s will continue assess ways to ease stress on emergency departments across B.C.

NanaimoNewsNOW requested current number of acute care patients at NRGH from Island Health.

Province-wide Dix said the number of patients requiring acute care rose from an average of 9,400 in September to 9,600 in December.

Dix noted their critical care capacity is in fact under capacity on average across the province.

“What we’re seeing is a lot more people in the hospital, that means that we have a lot more people not in critical care but are sick enough to be in the hospital.”

One in twelve people who enter an emergency room in the province require care in a hospital setting, Dix said.

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