Headwaters Hospital resuming elective surgeries Feb. 22

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Headwaters Health Care Centre (HHCC) will begin gradual resumptions of elective and non-urgent surgeries and procedures as of Feb. 22. 

The Ontario government announced the lifting of Directive 2, last Thursday (Feb. 10) as the province sees a continued steady decline in COVID-19 related hospitalizations and ICU admission. 

The directive, a measure which paused all non-emergent surgeries and procedures in the province, was issued by the provincial government last month in response to the dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant. 

“With encouraging trends in community transmission and our hospitalization and ICU admissions trending downwards we can now see that the Omicron peak is behind us,” said Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health. 

As part the move, hospitals will be allowed to resume patient capacity up to 70 per cent of their 2019 or pre-pandemic volumes. 

“This is positive news and means our health system is moving in a positive direction,” reads a public notice from HHCC president and CEO, Kim Delahunt; chief of staff, Dr. Peter Cino; chief of surgery, Dr. Grace Wang; and chief nursing executive, Anna-Marie Sutherland. 

The local hospital said it will be ramping up clinical activities in a multi-phase approach to avoid overwhelming the health system. 

Clinical activities that have already resumed include diagnostic imaging, cancer screening, and scheduled ambulatory care clinics including diabetes education and the minor procedure room. Headwaters also noted the resumption of endoscopies as of Feb. 14.

“Your patience and understanding as we navigate our gradual resumption of services is greatly appreciated,” said the public notice. “We know that anytime a health appointment, procedure or surgery is delayed there are impacts, and we are working with the province to minimize any caused by the recent pause in service to the best of our abilities.” 

A complete list of what is open and closed at Headwaters Hospital can be found on their websites at www.headwatershealth.ca.