Longer wait times at local hospitals due to COVID-19 absences

COVID-19 continues to affect staffing levels at hospitals in Waterloo Region.

Cambridge Memorial tweeted Friday that the emergency department was experiencing longer than normal wait times.

While they're seeing fewer COVID-19 patients in intensive care, general medicine units are at 100 per cent capacity, which they said causes a back-up for other patients admitted through the emergency department.

"Honestly we've had staffing meetings every hour on the hour today, because what happens is that it's also very dynamic," said Stephanie Pearsall, the vice-president of clinical programs and chief nursing executive at CMH. "Even patients coming into hospital who are testing positive for COVID-19, two weeks ago we had two, this morning we were at 11, and now we're at 12, I just saw the number change."

The hospital told CTV News they have 74 staff members off of work due to COVID-19 protocols, up from 47 reported on Tuesday.

"The biggest thing is that we're constantly calling staff in on their days off because we need to make up for those staff that are off," said Pearsall. "There's a lot of moral distress associated with that. They need their time off, they've been working for two years non-stop, and yet they know what its like for their team to be short-staffed."

Grand River Hospital in Kitchener is also experiencing more staff absences because of COVID-19 protocols. At least 205 were off of work Friday, up from 145 on Tuesday.