Ontario hospitals asked to treat older children as pediatric ICUs reach capacity

Hospitals in Ontario are being asked to treat children 14 years of age and older as intensive care units in pediatric hospitals reach capacity.

The head of Ontario’s critical care COVID-19 command centre, Dr. Andrew Baker says moves are being made to deal with current and future surges at hospitals for children.

Hospitals that treat adults are asked to maximize intensive care capacity to help relieve the burdens on emergency departments.

Baker says in a memo to hospital CEOs that surgeries may also need to be cancelled as a result.

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McMaster Children’s Hospital says inpatient occupancy for pediatric beds is extremely high.

The hospital’s critical care and emergency department are facing significant patient volumes driven by an unusually high seasonal surge in viral illnesses.

The transferring of teens from Mac Kids to adult hospitals is already happening.

There are 107 children in critical care across the province, only four with COVID-19.