B.C. Children’s Hospital activates emergency overflow amid respiratory illness surge – CBC
Health minister says emergency operations centres set up months ago have been activated
Nov 23, 2022
B.C. Children’s Hospital has activated emergency triage to manage a mounting volume of patients with respiratory illness, including flu and COVID-19, B.C.’s health minister has confirmed.
“We’re facing a significant amount of respiratory illness in emergency rooms across the province, particularly in children,” Adrian Dix said on Wednesday.
Dix said emergency centres across the province, having anticipated a wave of increased respiratory illness in the fall, set up emergency operations centres in advance.
The overflow is used to provide care for lower-acuity cases, the health minister said.
“At B.C. Children’s hospital that means the extraordinary staff there is setting up care to make it easier for people who come for emergency care,” he said, noting that the increased volume will likely have an impact on scheduled surgeries.
