SHA confirms COVID outbreaks in Saskatoon hospitals

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Saskatchewan Health Authority staff and physicians at Saskatoon hospitals continue having to fight the spread of COVID-19 among patients.

An SHA spokesman confirmed to the StarPhoenix that 17 patients in the St. Paul’s Hospital surgery unit last month were confirmed to have tested positive for the virus. Positive cases at St. Paul’s have since “subsided” in recent weeks, according to an emailed statement,

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Six cases of COVID-19 were confirmed earlier this month at Royal University Hospital, the SHA spokesman further confirmed.

“During a declared outbreak at any facility, SHA staff work with those facilities to ensure patients and employees remain safe and take efforts to contain the outbreak as much as possible,” the spokesman wrote.

Local medical health officers and workers from public health also assist affected hospitals with planning, investigation and surveillance protocols.

The SHA continues to urge people to remain “vigilant” about the transmission of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses; this includes maintaining up-to-date vaccinations, and avoiding being out when feeling sick.

People can also help reduce their risk of getting sick or spreading illness to others by practising frequent hand-washing, avoiding touching their eyes, mouth and nose and regularly cleaning and disinfecting “high-touch” surfaces.

The hospital outbreaks in late June and early July follow the most recent data from the province’s community respiratory illness surveillance program (CRISP) showing COVID-19 rising through late May and mid-June.

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The CRISP report covering May 19 to June 15 noted outbreaks in “high-risk settings” such as hospitals and care homes rose from four to seven over the reporting period.

Overall, the CRISP data showed positive COVID-19 tests increased from 52 in the week ending May 25 to 98 in the week ending June 15.

Hospital admissions related to respiratory viruses rose about 26 per cent, from 65 in the first two weeks to 82 in the final two weeks. This increase was “almost entirely” due to COVID-19, the report noted.

The uptick in COVID-19 this summer comes as hospitals in Saskatoon have been under public and political scrutiny.

Saskatchewan’s Opposition NDP last month highlighted a Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI) report finding about 50 per cent of beds in Saskatoon’s hospitals weren’t staffed or in use, compared to a national average hospital occupancy rate of 76 per cent.

SHA officials have since last fall been engaged in an “action plan” to increase capacity after city firefighters in November 2023 warned that hallways at St. Paul’s were crowded to the point of violating the fire code.

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The SHA in March gave an update on the plan in Saskatoon, and a similar one underway in Regina, announcing it had hired 156 new staff and opened 206 new beds across both cities.

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