Stratford hospital limits visits due to COVID/influenza outbreak

Stratford General Hospital’s medicine unit has been closed to new admissions until further notice due to a combined COVID-19/Influenza A outbreak, the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance says.

In a news release Monday, the healthcare alliance said visits to the unit are also being restricted. Patients will only be allowed one visitor per day with no in-and-out privileges.

“We know that when you have a family member or friend in the hospital that you likely want to visit them as much as possible. But if you are sick, your visit may end up doing more harm than good,” Erica Jensen, manager of quality, patient safety and infection control, said in the release.

A hospital outbreak is declared when two or more patients test positive for an illness that officials suspect may have been acquired in the hospital.

Currently, six patients in the medicine unit have tested positive for COVID-19. One of those COVID-positive patients also has influenza and a seventh patient has tested positive for influenza alone.

Seven outbreaks have been declared in Huron-Perth hospitals since September 2023. The healthcare alliance said outbreaks have a huge impact, not just on patients, but hospital operations.

“Outbreaks have a domino effect. Hospital stays become longer for patients and they may need more care, leading to delays in care for other patients. For example, surgeries can be delayed or cancelled, and patients wait longer in the emergency department for a bed,” Jensen said. “In addition, a patient who catches a respiratory illness while in hospital may experience complications and delays in their own recovery. For the health and safety of our patients we can’t stress enough the importance of staying home when you are sick.”