With large St. Patrick’s Day celebrations expected tomorrow, Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) has put plans in place to support an increase in patient demand. However, due to already high patient volumes, KHSC is urging everyone who plans on attending these events to celebrate safely.
“Although this is the first time that many individuals will be able to legally gather in groups due to relaxed public health measures, it’s important to remember that we are still in the midst of a pandemic and our hospitals are still under pressure,” says KHSC President and CEO Dr. David Pichora. “We continue to see very high-volumes of very sick patients and have very little inpatient capacity, we still are experiencing staffing shortages and our health-care teams are tired after working through the pandemic. We are asking everyone in our community to exercise caution so that we avoid as many unnecessary hospital visits as possible.”
KHSC has put plans in place to increase the number of staff available in the Emergency Department (ED) as well as opening extra space for patients.
“As the largest hospital in the region, we see the sickest and most critically ill people come through our ED as a result of traumatic injuries, strokes and heart-attacks,” says Carol McIntosh, Director of Urgent and Emergency Care. “We are very concerned when we hear about large parties that are planned for St. Patrick’s Day and how they may impact our services. Aside from over-consumption of alcohol and drugs, throwing beer bottles, climbing on roofs and hydro polls could lead to very serious injuries.”
KHSC is also asking the public to keep roads open to traffic to allow emergency services, such as ambulances, quick access to the hospital.
In addition, to ensure that health care teams can continue to provide the highest-level of care to the sickest individuals in our region, please see the information below to find out where to go if you do need to access health-care services. KHSC asks that people with less-serious illness or injuries seek medical attention in the appropriate place so that the sickest can continue to be seen quickly in the Emergency Department at the KGH site.
Primary Care
Patients with non-life-threatening illnesses or injuries that require access to a medical professional should first consider accessing care from their family doctors or at a local walk-in clinic. A number of walk-in clinics are located across Kingston; you can find the closest one by visiting: www.southeasthealthline.ca
Campus Observation Room (COR) at Queen’s University
Queen's students can access COR, a medical detox service run by Student Wellness Services that offers a confidential, non-judgmental place where students who have had too much to drink can sleep it off. COR main site is located on the Queen’s University campus. For more information visit https://www.queensu.ca/studentwellness/health-promotion/campus-observat…
Urgent Care Centre at Hotel Dieu Hospital
Located at our Hotel Dieu Hospital site (166 Brock Street), the Urgent Care Centre provides care for patients with urgent injuries or illnesses that need to be addressed within 24 hours and cannot wait for a visit to a family physician. This could include deep cuts and wounds that require stitches, sprains and strains or deep bruises, mild to moderate asthma attacks, minor broken bones, insect bites and rashes. The Urgent Care Centre is open every day between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Emergency Department at Kingston General Hospital
The Emergency Department provides care for patients with life- or limb-threatening illnesses or injuries or patients who have a high likelihood of requiring hospital admission. This could include heavy bleeding; severe difficulty breathing; persistent, severe chest pain or pressure, sudden confusion and pain not relieved by pain medication. The Emergency Department is open 24 hours-a-day. Patients who are experiencing chest pain, severe respiratory distress, allergic reactions, or the symptoms of stroke (sudden onset of arm/leg weakness, facial droop or slurred speech) should call 9-1-1 immediately.
