COVID-19 infections among LHSC staff jumps to 104

London's largest hospital is keeping a close eye on fast-rising COVID-19 case counts among staff, with an eye to possibly cut backing back on some services if the staffing crunch becomes more severe. 

On Tuesday, London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) reported 104 COVID-19 cases among its staff, a significant jump from 28 cases reported just a week ago.

While that total represents less than one per cent of LHCS's workforce of 15,000 employees, the hospital is preparing for a possible scaling back of some non-urgent services as the Omicron variant continues to drive COVID-19 cases and keep workers at home.

"We're watching this and monitoring the situation very closely," said Carol Young-Ritchie, one of the hospital's vice-presidents. "We know where our staff can be cross-trained and redeployed, which might mean we might need to take down some of our scheduled services."

Young-Ritchie said services that might be temporarily halted include some surgeries and hospital visits for follow-up appointments that can be done virtually.

She said for now, the hospital hasn't had to reduce any services. 

"We offer a lot of essential services and we want to make sure that those services aren't interrupted and that we're matching the patient care needs with the staff that are available."

For now, it appears none of the COVID-19 cases among staff are the result of an outbreak at any LHSC workplace Young-Ritchie said, noting the cases are connected to the same Omicron-fuelled community spread that is driving up case counts world wide.

LHSC workers who've identified as having a close contact with someone who's tested positive are allowed to come to work so long as they have no symptoms, are feeling well and have been tested. Young-Ritchie said the hospital has on-site antigen testing for staff in an effort to keep positive cases out of the hospital. 

This so-called "work quarantine" protocol was in place at LHSC during earlier waves of the pandemic.

 At the same time, Young-Ritchie said staff who are sick must stay home.

"We don't want our staff coming to work if they're not feeling well," she said. 

Quebec's health minister announced on Tuesday that some health-care workers who have tested positive for COVID-19  may remain on the job to protect hospital capacity.

While it hasn't come to that for the operators of Victoria and University hospitals, Young-Ritchie said orders to alter what services LHSC provides could come from Ontario Health, an arm of the provincial government that coordinates health care services across Ontario.