Kingston Health Sciences Centre is urging those who plan on attending unsanctioned homecoming celebrations this weekend to reconsider as the event may put a strain on hospital resources.<\/p>\n
This comes after this past weekend\u2019s \u201cFaux Homecoming\u201d unsanctioned event which sent 15 additional patients to the Emergency Department at the Kingston General Hospital (KGH).<\/p>\n
KHSC President and CEO Dr. David Pichora asks the community to think about their health, and make wise choices.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time there\u2019s an event like this we are seeing significant numbers in our emergency department. We\u2019re not seeing as many people, but, proportionately, there are a lot more critically ill and critically injured. This past weekend\u2019s event more than 50 per cent of the people had to be cared for in Section A, the critical care part\u2026We\u2019re seeing a mix of overdose, intoxication and injuries from people who fall off things\u2026that ruins the fun for everybody,\u201d says Pichora.<\/p>\n
He says there are very high volumes in the ER.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t need people coming down for reasons that were entirely avoidable\u2026It\u2019s not fair for people who are down there for unavoidable reasons\u2026There are a lot more really sick people than we used to see in previous years so we just don\u2019t have room for people that could\u2019ve avoided the visit and it\u2019s really tough for our staff to feel compassionate for somebody whose behaviour was entirely reckless and irresponsible\u2026When we already have a dozen ambulances at KGH, there\u2019s no ambulance in the community...to pick up the next heart attack,\u201d says Pichora.<\/p>\n
He adds the KGH is a regional hospital with people being flown in for tertiary care from across Ontario. The KHSC has put plans in place for Homecoming Weekend including opening additional care areas and bringing in extra nurses, doctors, registration staff, security and housekeeping.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree and four years ago, the big worry then is do we have enough space?\u2026We were quite concerned then about the cost of doing this because it\u2019s very expensive and taxpayers are paying. This year we\u2019re not quite so concerned about the cost\u2026I\u2019m not sure those staff are there to come in on an extra shift and volunteer because we're short staffed and we've had a lot of turnover. People need their weekend off. If they're not scheduled to be here, I would rather they have their weekend off,\u201d says Pichora.<\/p>\n
He says it\u2019s going to take a community effort to change the behaviour and the culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople can have fun without what we\u2019re seeing now,\u201d says Pichora.<\/p>\n