Officials at the North Bay Regional Health Centre say there is a patient flow crisis underway.

Vice president Clinical Tiz Silveri says they’re seeing more and more patients come through the emergency department but there’s no available beds to admit them.

It has been ongoing for over two months.

“Normally, with our patient activity we do see a wave where it goes up and then it goes back down. What has been unusual this time is we have had elevated activity and it doesn’t go back down. It’s been a constant since mid August and it keeps going higher,” Silveri says.

She points out the number of alternate level of care patients, those patients that are staying at the hospital because there’s no room for them at a long term care home, has jumped from 7.5 to 25 %.

One reason for that is the impending closure of the Lady Isabelle Nursing Home in Trout Creek.

Silveri says they are taking a couple of steps to deal with the situation.

“We’re trying to increase our capacity and we’re also looking at potentially opening up a new mini unit to help alleviate some of the pressures on the acute units,” she says.

Silveri says they will not turn any patient away who is in need of emergency care but she asks people to be patient.

Filed under: North Bay Regional Health Centre, patient flow crisis, Tiz Silveri