B.C. to reactivate its COVID emergency operations centres to prepare for more illness

The B.C. government announced it will reopen 20 hospital emergency operations centres set up for COVID-19 to deal with an expected surge in flu, respiratory illness and COVID cases.

“To ensure we have continued access to hospital care, we are proactively reactivating Emergency Operations Centers,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said Friday.

Dix says they’ve been coping with an unprecedented increase in demand in the health care system.

“January is typically the time when we see an increase in hospitalizations, partly due to the holiday period in a in a normal year, and this January is no different,” Dix said.

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He says reactivating the centres starting Monday will ensure people have continued access to hospital care and will allow for a co-ordinated response during periods of additional pressures on hospitals.

“Demand for hospital care in B.C. is high, and it’s high for significant reasons,” Dix said.

There are more than 10,000 patients in B.C.’s hospitals, which Dix says is a significant number, and the centres will help ensure there is space for those needing it in the coming weeks.

“If you look at that number, within that you see it’s 88 per cent of our total complement of beds, but 111 per cent of our base bed capacity, which is significant and high,” he explained.

“This is a proactive step to provide more supports and co-ordinated response during periods of expected additional pressure on our hospitals.”

B.C. traditionally experiences an increase in hospitalizations in January as illnesses spread during the holiday period and surgeries resume in the new year.

But on top of the COVID-19 cases, Dix says there has been an increase in other illnesses.

“In hospitals, respiratory, other respiratory illnesses such as influenza, and RSV, which obviously have affected and significantly affected hospitals in every part of the province,” he said.

He says the centres will be just like the ones the province set up last year, and will be in place for at least six weeks.

Dix adds the emergency operation plan includes ensuring maximum capacity is maintained at B.C.’s busiest hospitals, and one way is making sure people ready to leave the hospital are discharged over the weekend and not just on week days.

“We’ll be working much more closely on a seven day a week basis on the issue of people who who are ready to be discharged in the hospital, to be able to be discharged and supporting the community,” he explained.

Dix adds that leadership teams will review hospital bed availability and identify solutions to ease emergency department congestion.

“We will monitor progress and we’ll continue to work with health authorities to adapt plans and efforts as needed. These actions will ensure we are prepared for any increase in demand for hospital care,” Dix said.