CEO Update: Green light to begin ramp up of non-urgent day surgeries

Community update from Eric Hanna, President and CEO

May 21, 2021

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Health (MoH) gave hospitals the green light to gradually ramp up non-urgent day surgeries that have been postponed since Monday, April 26, 2021.

In order to resume services, it was stipulated that a hospital must meet the criteria determined by the province including sufficient health human resources, critical supplies, a coordinated regional approach and the ability to continue to take interfacility transfers to alleviate system pressures, if needed.  The province has also emphasized that hospitals must plan their gradual ramp up to allow for a potential rapid response to an increase in COVID-19 case counts and hospitalizations. Arnprior Regional Health (ARH) meets the ramp-up criteria, and our resumption plan allows us to respond to a potential surge in COVID-19 cases, if that were to happen. Accordingly, we are in a position to resume day surgery.

Eric Hanna, President & CEO, ARH

Throughout the pandemic, we have collaborated closely with our regional partners and through this ramp up we will continue to do so. Starting on May 27, ARH will begin non-urgent day surgeries and procedures out of two operating rooms. Given the continued pressure on our Ottawa hospital partners, we will provide incremental OR time above our previous levels of operation for Queensway Carleton Hospital (QCH) priority cases as well as our own priority cases as we work through the backlog. The prioritization of cases is being determined by the clinical teams following MoH guidance.

COVID-19 has further strengthened our regional partnerships, improving healthcare access beyond our local geographical boundaries (Arnprior/McNab-Braeside and West Carleton), and enhancing outcomes for our community. We will collaborate with our Ottawa partners as we move out of the pandemic continuing to accept interfacility transfers from Ottawa hospitals to our Inpatient Unit, providing OR time for QCH and The Ottawa Hospital, and supporting the final approval of our Ontario Health Team that will improve experiences for our patients and clients. The pandemic reinforced the importance of the provincial healthcare system working as a system in a large geography representing a mix of rural and urban communities, and we look forward to new opportunities to build on this experience.

Yesterday, the province announced their phased reopening plan which gives us all added hope as we near the end of this pandemic. For now, we need to stay the course and proceed cautiously as we move safely out of the third wave.  Please continue to practice physical distancing and wear a mask as directed by public health.  Many thanks to our community for the ongoing support of our ARH Team.

Kind regards,

Eric Hanna

President and CEO

Arnprior Regional Health