A regular number of patients have been visiting Sarnia's emergency department [ED] this January.
Bluewater Health's new Vice President of Care Transitions, Lisa Regan, said they've managed the typical surge in less-urgent patients visiting their ED after the holidays.
"Our volumes in the emergency department have been pretty consistent, typically what we see in the winter months," said Regan. "I think what we've heard is the flu has settled down a bit, but we're still seeing respiratory illness presentations."
Regan was promoted to fill the position in November, when it was left vacant by the hospital's new President and CEO Paula Reaume-Zimmer.
She said having Lambton County's COVID-19 assessment centres expand their scope in December, to assess and treat patients with cold and flu symptoms, helped.
"They assist us, for sure, in managing the respiratory volumes. I believe they're at capacity, and they've been fully booked every day. So, I would assume that, yes, it's giving options for people in the community that have flu-like symptoms. They can go to primary care, and the clinics, and if they need [to] the emergency department... we're here for them."
In October, patients were waiting up to eight hours in the ED for an appropriate bed to become available.
Chief of Staff Dr. Mike Haddad said at the time they hadn't been able to meet their goal of transferring a patient from the ED to a bed within two hours.
"I just looked at the data over the last couple of weeks," said Regan. "We're sitting at a length of stay [in the emergency department] of about four hours [now], depending on your acuity."
Regan said staff are working hard to "keep the flow going within the hospital and meet the demand."
"Every day is a new day. We've been able to staff and haven't had to cancel any surgeries."