Flu cases crowd Montreal Children's ER
Montreal hospital forced to close some outpatient clincs and blood testing centre
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | 8:49 PM ET
CBC News
Officials at the Montreal Children's Hospital say the ER has been inundated with patients showing flu-like symptoms. (CBC)The Montreal Children’s Hospital closed some of its outpatient clinics and its pediatric blood testing centre on Tuesday to cope with the large number of patients with flu-like symptoms, officials said.
“We're still getting [an] inordinately long list of people waiting for care in our emergency room,” hospital spokeswoman Lisa Dutton said Tuesday.
On Monday, Dutton said, 345 patients went through the ER, nearly double the ward’s capacity.
The closures would allow the hospital to redeploy staff to help those working the ER, Dutton said, and “allow them to take some time off, not force them to work overtime.”
Patients with scheduled appointments in outpatient clinics are being asked not to call the hospital. Instead, staff would contact patients directly to reschedule, Dutton said.
Provincial Health Ministry officials said the decision of hospital administrators to shut down the clinics was not unexpected.
"That is an immediate adaptation to a volume of clientele … that is coming in an accelerated number," said Dr. Yolaine Galarneau who oversees health services and university medicine with the ministry. "It is something we have asked our centres to be able to do quickly."
Six specialized clinics have been set up across four regions in the province to deal exclusively with patients showing flu-like symptoms in Quebec, Galarneau said, with another 10 to be opened by the end of the week.
Stay home if you can: officials
Not everyone who is sick needs to go to the ER, and many people have asked to be tested for the H1N1 virus, which simply isn’t necessary, she said.
"If you get treated for the flu you are sick for 7 days; if you are not treated for the flu, you are sick for a week," she said. “Medication is there to help relieve flu symptoms and it won’t change the course of things unless you are an at-risk clientele" or exhibiting serious symptoms, Galarneau said.
Galarneau issued a reminder that nurses are available to answer questions through the province’s Info-Santé hotline by dialing 811.
In order to help speed up the process and allow officials to help as many people as possible, Galarneau asked people calling Info-Santé to take their temperature first and have on hand the H1N1 self-care guide that was distributed to each household.
