The Queen Elizabeth Hospital is pleased to advise that the ambulance diversion policy that was put in place earlier this week has been lifted effective noon today.
A decision had been made earlier this week to temporarily divert ambulances to either Prince County Hospital in Summerside or Kings County Memorial Hospital in Montague because of a surge in demand and a higher than usual number of patients awaiting long-term care placement.
The QEH was able to discharge a number of patients this morning following bed rounds. Seven medically discharged patients are moving to long-term care facilities and two patients will be transferred to other acute care facilities.
Because surges in demand do happen from time-to-time, it’s very important that we continue to deal with any surges as a province-wide health system, allowing us to make the best use of our provincial health system resources in meeting Islander's needs, Philpott said.
“We're fortunate to have such dedicated staff and physicians throughout the health system and to have such a strong sense of collaboration between facilities," Rob Philpott said.
“I would like to thank the physicians and staff at all our facilities across the province, Island EMS, and all other Department of Health staff for their dedicated team work and collaboration in helping to alleviate the situation as quickly as possible,” said Philpott.
“We regret any inconvenience this recent situation caused our patients and the public, and certainly appreciate the understanding that Island residents have shown.”