News Dec 18, 2020 Outbreak Status Update at Headwaters Health Care Centre Public Notice Outbreak Status Update at Headwaters Health Care Centre December 18, 2020 On December 4th Headwaters Health Care Centre and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) declared an outbreak on our hospital’s medical inpatient unit, F-Wing. An outbreak is declared when one case of COVID-19 is detected without a clear link to being acquired in the community. As of today, December 18, there are 3 positive patients on F-Wing with hospital acquired COVID-19. Sadly, two patients passed away this week who were COVID-19 positive. One of these patients had hospital acquired COVID-19 and the other, community acquired. There are 4 F-Wing staff with hospital acquired COVID-19. The staff who tested positive are self-isolating. Additionally, we have 7 F-Wing staff self-isolating at home (this includes the 4 F-Wing staff positives) and 5 F-Wing staff self-monitoring at work related to this outbreak. Without new cases in the past 72 hours, contact tracing and investigations have been completed by Occupational Health, Infection Prevention and Control and Public Health teams on the outbreak unit. The earliest we can be declared out of outbreak status is December 24, providing we have no additional hospital-acquired cases with staff or patients related to this outbreak. Our Emergency Department, Ambulatory Care services and scheduled surgeries are not impacted. “Due to the high prevalence of COVID-19 in our community, and our area being in Red – Control Level status – and our neighbours in Peel Region are in Grey – Lockdown status, we are reminded to do all we can to protect ourselves, our patients and one another,” said Kim Delahunt, President & CEO, Headwaters Health Care Centre. “Our hospital is planning for increased demand for patients requiring hospitalization. We must not falter and do all we can to help control the virus and help all hospitals that are facing high occupancy and increased demand overall.” Some of our infection prevention protocols include: Closing the F-Wing unit to new admissions (unless the admitted person has a diagnosis of COVID-19) Ceasing transfers to and from the unit unless the level of care requires it Enhanced cleaning on the unit as well as across the entire hospital COVID-19 testing of staff and physicians on the affected unit Implementing the use of eye protection (goggles or face shields) as well as surgical masks in any direct patient care interaction Implementing the use of eye protection (face shields) as well as surgical mask use for essential visitors and updating our visitor policy Reinforcing the importance of the proper and consistent use of personal protective equipment, hand hygiene and practicing physical distancing (2 metres or 6 feet) at work while on breaks, during meals and at home Reminder notices have been posted on all units and departments to identify the number of people able to gather in break rooms or common areas for meals/break time. We are committed to providing timely information as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and will provide further updates as information becomes available. More information on our COVID-19 response is available on our website at www.headwatershealth.ca. We respectfully request all members of the community to not call our inpatient units, so our staff can remain focused on providing ongoing high-quality patient care. Previous Next