Hamilton hospitals forced to cancel heart surgeries due to increase of COVID-19 patients

A Hamilton hospital was forced to cancel heart surgeries last week after an influx of COVID-19 patients filled the intensive care unit.

Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) says seven of the eight extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines were being used to help unvaccinated COVID-19 patients.

As a result, hospital administrators had to cancel cardiac surgeries on Sept. 10 because of limited resources.

An ECMO machine is used in critical care situations when a patient’s heart and lungs need help so that they can heal. They are often utilized to assist cardiac surgery patients but have increasingly been used to care for those with COVID-19 complications.

HHS says physicians and other healthcare workers are frustrated because unvaccinated individuals are being hospitalized unnecessarily.

“Although 20 per cent of eligible population of Ontario are unvaccinated, they represent 80 percent of hospitalizations and nearly 90 per cent of ICU patients,” said Dr. Sunjay Sharma, Medical Director at the Hamilton General ICU in a news release. “It is very clear that being fully vaccinated significantly decreases your risk of getting seriously sick and hospitalized from COVID-19 – as well as decreases the chance of our hospitals being overwhelmed.”

Earlier this year, scheduled surgeries and procedures were postponed as the province dealt with the third wave of COVID-19.

As of early September, Hamilton Health Sciences had over 6,200 surgeries on a waitlist and St. Joseph’s hospital had 5080 people still waiting to be scheduled.

With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in the region and unvaccinated individuals filling hospital rooms, healthcare professionals say it is limiting the ability of staff and physicians to respond to the needs of other patients.

“Those choosing to be unvaccinated are endangering others and themselves – they don’t need to be sick and in hospital,” says Dr. Craig Ainsworth, Director of the Cardiac Care Unit at Hamilton General Hospital. “My colleagues and I are fully vaccinated, we support hospital policy and expect that everyone will follow the science. It’s the right thing to do.”

HHS says its hospitals and urgent care clinic are safe for everyone who needs care, and patients are urged to continue to attend appointments, diagnostics tests, and cancer screenings.

Hospital officials say patients will be contacted directly by their surgeon or a member of their care team if there is a change to their planned care.