Ontario ICU closed for a month has no date set to reopen

A month after an Ontario intensive care unit temporarily closed due to a “significant staff shortage,” the hospital has no timeline for when the ICU will re-open its doors.

On July 28, Lakeridge Health said it made the “difficult decision” to temporarily relocate Bowmanville Hospital’s ICU and relocate care to the Ajax Pickering and Oshawa Hospitals.

“We have restored some critical care nursing services at the Bowmanville Hospital, and we continue to work diligently to stabilize staffing in order to fully return services in the ICU,” Lakeridge spokesperson Sharon Navarro told CTV News Toronto on Wednesday. 

This comes as the Ontario government released the next phase of its "Plan to Stay Open" on Thursday, ahead of an anticipated rise in respiratory illnesses in the coming months.

• Ontario releases plan to stabilize health-care system amid bed and staffing shortages

Despite the consolidation of care in Bowmanville, Navarro said there have been no interruptions to services at the hospital’s emergency department and a critical care physician has remained onsite throughout this transition period.

In the days ahead, she said the situation will be closely monitored and further updates will be announced to the community as soon as they are available.

“We recognize the impact this situation has had on our staff, patients, and their families. We are so grateful to the staff and physicians who are now providing these critical care services, as well as those who are working tirelessly to ensure adequate staffing to safely return all services as soon as possible,” Navarro said.

“We also appreciate the patience, cooperation, and understanding of the Durham Region community during this extremely challenging time.”