Maintaining bed capacity

COVID-19 has tested us in many areas, including having enough ICU capacity to meet patient demand.

We only need to go back to late September, when we were at 83 per cent ICU capacity, including surge beds. Normally, Alberta has 173 general adult ICU beds open in Alberta. With COVID-19 and the surge of patients, we added 106 additional beds for a total of 279 general adult ICU beds.

Without those surge beds, we would have been at 177 per cent capacity.

With pressure easing on our ICUs, we are thankfully able to reduce available surge beds so that we can redeploy staff back to caring for non-COVID patients who need surgeries and procedures completed. We will ensure that we maintain ICU capacity above daily demand to a planned maximum of 380 beds as long as staff and physician availability allows.

This level of planning requires a great deal of foresight, understanding of pandemic pressures, and the ability to be nimble. Joining me to tell us more about the great work that’s been done to maintain bed capacity, and how we plan for it, are:

• Emma Folz, Executive Director, Peter Lougheed Centre
• Mishaela Houle, Executive Director, Cardiac Sciences, Edmonton Zone
• John Montpetit, Provincial Director, Referral, Access, Advice, Placement, Information & Destination (RAAPID)