SHA setting up field hospitals to handle any surges
REGINA The Saskatchewan Health Authority is making its COVID -19 field hospitals a reality in Regina and Saskatoon.
According to a news release issued Tuesday, the SHA is proceeding to create temporary hospitals within Evraz Place in Regina and Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon.
Combined, the two hospitals will have room for 304 COVID-19 patients who require hospitalization but do not have a severe form of the illness.
This capacity is needed, says the SHA, due to previously suspended health services resuming in permanent hospitals, and a possible second wave of coronavirus in the fall.
Currently, there are 19 active cases of COVID -19 reported in the province; 13 people have died of the virus to date in Saskatchewan.
“Both hospitals need to be ready to open within a few short weeks of hitting predetermined trigger points,” according to the SHA.
SHA staff first spoke in detail about field hospital plans on April 9.
At that time, Suzanne Mahaffey, the SHA incident commander for Saskatoon, said: “We have triggers that once City Hospital is approximately 50 per cent full, we will be starting to ensure that our field hospital is ready to go and that we’ve done simulation exercises.”
“Hopefully we never have to use the field hospital,” Sheila Anderson, incident commander for the SHA’S Regina Integrated Health Incident Command Centre (IHICC), said April 9.
That day, the SHA stated its field hospital options in Regina were the Affinityplex indoor soccer fields and the International Trade Centre.
At the time, the SHA said it had a ward at Regina General Hospital designated for COVID -19 patients, with more wards and floors at RGH and Pasqua hospitals dedicated to coronavirus patients as demand increases.
The SHA plans to minimize impact to existing facilities as it constructs the field hospitals, while considering bed mapping, patient and equipment flow, staffing and safety plans, equipment and IT needs.
“We’ve had to really challenge ourselves to think about how we can continue to provide safe care in an environment that is very different from our usual hospital setting,” said Kateri Singer, one of three Regina field hospital leads.
The field hospitals will have large open areas, so care providers can easily see patients — who will be using cots instead of typical hospital beds.
Once the need for these hospitals is over, equipment and supplies that were ordered for these facilities will be distributed to other Saskatchewan hospitals for their use.