Despite long lines at H1N1 flu clinics, like this one on Oct. 27 in Tecumseh, Ont., Windsor's hospitals have seen an unprecedented surge in visits to the emergency department by patients with flu-like symptoms. (CBC)

Windsor, Ont.'s two hospitals are expanding their emergency departments temporarily to deal with overwhelming demand for swine flu shots.

Windsor Regional Hospital's emergency department said in a release it has experienced a more than 30 per cent increase in the number of people coming to the hospital with flu-like symptoms.

Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital and other regional hospitals are dealing with a surge in emergency room visits, said Dr. David Ng, the hospital's chief of emergency medicine.

"Normally our ERs see between 160 and 180 patients a day," Ng said in a release. "Recently those numbers have surged to over 200 a day, putting an additional strain on our busy emergency departments."

Beginning Tuesday night, Windsor Regional will open a hospital-based outpatient assessment clinic that will run from 6 p.m. to midnight, seven days a week.

On Thursday, Hôtel-Dieu will increase staff and add a physician to cover a six-hour shift from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. every day "until the surge subsides," Ng said.

The surge in patients at Windsor Regional began in late October, when many patients were sent to hospital with flu-like symptoms on the advice of their family physicians or staff at walk-in clinics.

The release of the H1N1 vaccine, combined with tragic news of the swine flu death of a 13-year-old boy in Toronto, created "a perfect storm," said David Musyj, Windsor Regional's CEO.

The new, separate clinic "addresses the needs of the community while not exposing those attending the emergency department with non-serious flu-like symptoms," the release states.