KAWARTHA LAKES-The Emergency Department at Campbellford Memorial Hospital will temporarily close as of 3:30PM on Thursday, October 27th, until at least 8:00AM on Saturday October 29th. Patients requiring Emergency Care are advised to call 911 or to attend the closest hospital that offers emergency services:
- Northumberland Hills Hospital, 1000 DePalma Drive, Cobourg
- Quinte Healthcare Corporation – Trenton Memorial Hospital, 242 King Street, Trenton
- Quinte Healthcare Corporation – Belleville General Hospital, 265 Dundas Street East, Belleville
- Peterborough Regional Health Centre, 1 Hospital Drive, Peterborough.
The hospital says it is doing everything it can to ensure services in the ED resume on Saturday morning, due to the impacts the outbreak is having on physical capacity constraints and staffing levels, an extended, or additional closure may be required. Further communication to the public will follow if additional service reductions occur.
The closure is a result of staffing challenges brought on by a COVID outbreak that was declared by the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit on Thursday, October 27 following cases of hospital transmission.
The outbreak is currently affecting two of the three wings on the inpatient unit that accommodate both the 4-bed special care unit and our 30 acute care beds. Due to the size of the outbreak, the day surgery wing is also being temporarily repurposed as an inpatient care area to help alleviate capacity pressures and staff from other departments are being redeployed to assist with patient care on the inpatient unit.
Because of the outbreak, all visitation to the Inpatient unit has been restricted except for patients in the hospital for end-of-life care. Virtual visitation is still available and encouraged, and family members can reach out to Caitlyn Payne at 705-653-1140 ext. 2212 to set up a virtual visit.
CMH would like to remind the community that while most public health restrictions have been lifted, COVID-19 is still prevalent in the community and case volumes are rising in our area. Officials say best practices such as physical distancing, wearing a mask in indoor public settings, (masks are mandatory at CMH), staying home when you’re feeling unwell and getting your fall COVID booster are essential in slowing the spread within high-risk settings like hospitals and long term care homes.
This is the third time the hospital has temporarily closed the ED. The first closure was in December 2021 and again in August.
