A COVID-19 outbreak on the third floor at the Barrie Memorial Hospital in Ormstown has been confirmed by the CISSSMO (the Integrated health and social services centres for Montérégie West).
“There were a small number of cases,” says Dr. Catherine Bélanger, the COVID-19 coordinator for the Haut-Saint-Laurent Local Health Network. All of the patients who tested positive were transferred right away to the COVID-19 unit at the Anna Laberge Hospital in Châteauguay.
The Infection Prevention and Control team was quickly deployed, and all of the patients and employees on the third floor were tested. “We will be on high alert for two to four weeks and we will be testing everyone regularly,” says Bélanger.
An investigation is also underway to determine how the virus was introduced to the facility, which is considered a cold hospital and therefore unable to admit patients with COVID-19. There are unconfirmed reports suggesting the virus may have spread from a patient who was transferred to Ormstown from the Hôpital du Suroît in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.
“There are outbreaks in the CISSSMO,” says Bélanger, who confirms that the Barrie Memorial does accept patients transferred from other hospitals. “There was always a risk that it would happen, and it is not a surprise,” she admits, while insisting the hospital is following all of the sanitary measures and protocols in place. All individuals who enter the hospital and the ER are stopped at the door and are asked to sanitize their hands and wear a mask. The hospital staff and employees wear masks and googles at all times and practice strict hand hygiene, and especially when seeing patients.
“Because of the nature of the way the virus is transmitted, you can be doing everything perfectly and still get it because it is so contagious due to the asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic spread,” says Bélanger, who is quick to point out that if it was at all easy to control the spread of the virus, we would not be dealing with a global pandemic.
With the Barrie Memorial on high alert for the next few weeks, Bélanger suggests that it would be best to avoid visiting loved ones who are hospitalized until the outbreak is over. Visitation will be maintained, as always, for those with a loved one nearing the end of their life.
The Gleaner will continue to follow this story very closely.