toh

February 24, 2017 – The Ottawa Hospital is dealing with unprecedented occupancy of up to 120 percent.  This means that, at any given time, there are many patients who have been admitted through our Emergency Departments at the Civic or General campuses who are waiting for a bed.

The Ottawa Hospital treats the most critically ill and those in need of urgent care. We encourage residents with non-urgent care needs to contact Telehealth Ontario (1-866-797-0000), which is a 24-hour toll-free line staffed by nurses who can help you decide whether to:

• visit your doctor or nurse practitioner
• go to a clinic
• contact a community service
• go to a hospital emergency room

To continue to meet our commitment to provide high-quality care, we have opened additional beds and added staff during this period of overcapacity. We have also been working daily with our partners in the Champlain LHIN. We thank them and our exceptional staff members who are working very hard to minimize wait times for beds.

For a daily hospital occupancy report, please click here. The last time the hospital experienced a prolonged over-capacity issue was in 2011, when the rate hovered near 110 percent. Despite the measures we are undertaking on a daily basis, we expect that this level of over-capacity could continue for several weeks. We are grateful to all who have demonstrated patience and resolve at this time.