Horizon Hospitals Ramp Up Services

Things are slowly returning to normal at hospitals as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted in New Brunswick.

All non-urgent services were put on hold when the province entered the “red level” of restrictions in March.

Dr. John Dornan, chief of staff for Horizon, said that meant only 20 to 30 per cent of their services were operating.

“We just put off what we could put off safely. If it couldn’t be put off safely, we attended to it,” said Dornan during the health authority’s quarterly board meeting Thursday.

Most of the province has since transitioned through the “orange” level to the “yellow” level. The Campbellton region, which saw an outbreak of cases, will join the rest of the province in the yellow phase Friday.

Dornan said with restrictions being lifted, they are operating at 85 to 90 per cent of their pre-COVID-19 capacity. He says they are doing what they can without overwhelming the health-care system.

“We’re trying to be as efficient as we can, trying to ensure that our hospital occupancy remains lean, remains low so that we can deal with any subsequent COVID waves that might occur,” he said.

Earlier this week, visitor restrictions were relaxed at all Horizon facilities, which was welcome news for patients and their families.

Dornan said the restrictions were difficult for many people and were not something they wanted to implement.

“When people are sick, they generally want company. When you have a loved one in hospital or a friend in hospital, you want to show support by visiting. But we know that from prior experiences around the world, that’s the best way to propagate the COVID virus,” he said.

The chief of staff said it has been emotional to watch staff step up during the pandemic.

All non-urgent health services like audiology and speech language pathology were put on hold at the height of restrictions.

Dornan said many of those health-care workers who no longer had to work volunteered to help elsewhere.

“Over 600 of our staff stepped up to the frontline and helped us screen patients, helped us screen doctors, helped us screen other staff,” he said.

Workers have returned to their normal jobs now that the province is in the yellow phase of recovery.

While staff are no longer being screened when they come to work, Horizon president and CEO Karen McGrath said they are still being told to watch for symptoms.