Mississauga Hospital Suspends Paediatric Admissions, Patients Redirected to Credit Valley Hospital

Mississauga Hospital has suspended its paediatric admissions due to staffing challenges. Patients are being redirected to Credit Valley Hospital which for now is being called a temporary change. There has been a surge of respiratory viruses and influenza cases this flu season and hospitals across Ontario are struggling.

Keeley Rogers, the spokesperson with Trillium Health Partners, said in a statement that this move is in response to the “ongoing province-wide staffing challenges” as well as an increase in paediatric hospitalizations. She said, “By working together on one site, our clinical teams have been able to keep the same number of beds open to supporting children and families in need. We want to assure you that this has not decreased access to high-quality care in our community and region. Our emergency department at Mississauga Hospital remains open to paediatric patients, and should admission be required, arrangements will be made for a transfer to CVH for care.”

As of now, it is unclear when the paediatric unit at Mississauga Hospital will start taking in patients again.

Recently, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer recommended masking as a layer of protection against respiratory viruses. Seeing as how the cases of respiratory viruses and influenza are increasing significantly, hospitals are struggling to meet this increased demand. It was also reported that in September, 90 percent of patients had to wait 12 hours in an emergency room which was a 17 percent increase in wait time compared to September 2021. After admission, it took 45 hours to complete the visit for 90 percent of the patients. This was a 40.5 percent increase compared to last year.

Liberal health critic Dr. Adil Shamji who obtained the report said that masking would be an effective way of curbing the spread of respiratory viruses and decreasing the burden on the healthcare system.

Paediatric hospitals are also struggling to treat children coming in with flu and respiratory viruses. There is a shortage of medication as well as staff, which has led to these hospitals asking for help from other, less stressed, hospitals.

Vineet Washington