'We are full capacity and have only two beds available now'; STEGH facing 'dire situation'
CTV
CTV News had planned to speak to St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital (STEGH) Chief of Staff Dr. Waleed Chehadi Saturday, regarding what he is calling a 'dire situation' in his hospital.
CTV News had planned to speak to St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital (STEGH) Chief of Staff Dr. Waleed Chehadi Saturday, regarding what he is calling a 'dire situation' in his hospital. However he is so busy dealing with patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) he couldn't leave his post.
"It is very busy and patients are very acute and sick," says Dr. Chehadi who only had time to answer one question.
"I am constantly thinking about the next patient that's going to come through and whether I'm going to be able to care for them."
STEGH President and CEO Karen Davies took Dr. Chehadi's place for the interview.
"We're at full capacity and there's only two hospital beds available right now," says Davies.
"We added 22 extra beds to this hospital many months ago because of the pandemic and the increase in the occupancy. Having 13 extra COVID patients makes a big difference because those patients are really resource intensive."
Davies says 13 patients doesn't seem like much, but it's pushed their ICU to the limit.
