An outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness in the Grand River Hospital surgical unit has the Kitchener hospital cancelling a number of surgeries.
Hospital officials say six elective surgeries slated for Wednesday and seven for Thursday were cancelled due to a shortage of healthy nurses available to assist patients post-surgery.
“We have about 18 nurses off right now and that hasn’t slowed down for the last couple of days, so we’re really not sure how long it’s going to take to build that supply of nurses up again,” says Robinne Hauck, GRH’s director of surgical programs.
The cancellations are not expected to affect emergency surgeries, or surgeries where patients can be discharged the same day.
Patients who may have been exposed to the illness, or who are displaying symptoms of the illness, have been isolated. The site of the outbreak has been cleaned.
Although there is no official quarantine, friends and family of patients on the hospital’s fifth floor are being asked to stay home if they feel sick. Hospital officials say everyone in the building should regularly and thoroughly wash their hands.
“If they have symptoms, (they should) stay away from the hospital,” says Hauck.
“We’re doing everything we can to prevent it from spreading around. Hand hygiene is the most important thing you can do to prevent it.”
Some experts recommending washing hands five times a day.
