Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre has 32 staff members off due to possible COVID-19 contamination

At least twenty front-line staff at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre cannot go to work, as they were exposed to a potential case of COVID-19.

Currently, staff only wear complete PPE when there is a confirmed positive case, to help ration the supply of equipment. Global shortages of PPE have meant the hospital is now collecting N95 masks for potential reuse.

"In this instance, exposure is associated with a patient who, through the course of admission, has moved through several areas of the hospital," said Tracie Smith, the hospital's senior director of communications and engagement in a e-mailed statement.

"The patient recently developed symptoms associated with COVID-19, has been tested, and is therefore considered a presumptive case. Self-isolating staff include those who had exposure to the patient prior to the onset of the patient's symptoms."

Smith said staff isolation would be discontinued if and when the patient's test results were returned as negative.

"[Staff are] not allowed to go to the work environment because they could potentially spread," said Dr. Stewart Kennedy, who leads the hospital's COVID-19 pandemic team.

"So, it's having an impact on our workforce not having in-house testing here. And, I know I keep harping on in-house testing, but that is critical." 

The hospital will also no longer use locums who reside outside of the city, to help slow any spread. The facility had been working on reducing its reliance of locums over the past year, but still used the physicians to help fill gaps in the hospital schedule.

However, Kennedy said the hospital has now fully opened its dedicated COVID-19 unit, with patients moved in throughout the day on Monday.

The hospital is also looking at providing accommodations for staff working on the dedicated unit, which could be a local hotel, or at Lakehead University or Confederation College.

The hospital will also provide new scrubs for each staff member on the dedicated COVID-19 unit to change into and out of at the hospital. The laundering of scrubs is not normally provided to floor staff at the hospital.

Kennedy said he anticipates another dedicated COVID-19 unit will be necessary at the hospital to accommodate all patients.