MIDLAND -- Front line health care workers are cordoned off behind a plastic barrier set up at a nursing station inside the Georgian Bay General Hospital's (GBGH) east wing in Midland.

The hospital has been divided into hot and cold zones to contain any incidents of COVID 19.

"Only had one inpatient since the beginning of April and one outpatient we screened in our emergency department, and both of those were travel-related," says GBGH President and CEO Gail Hunt.

About one-quarter of the 113 beds at the hospital have been isolated to create room for a potential spike in COVID patients.

GBGH Chief of Staff, Dr. Vikram Ralhan, says the number of ICU beds has doubled.

"In addition to our six-bed ICU, we've been able to increase capacity by another seven beds at this time."

But keeping those beds available is straining resources here, even though outpatient procedures have been cancelled and ER visits are down.

"People are delaying care and people with other comorbidities that may or may not include COVID, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease are coming in much sicker and require admission to hospital," explains Dr. Ralhan.

Hunt says the hospital staff appreciate the community support as they work through the crisis one day at a time.

"Dealing with the uncertainty of when the wave will hit or what's coming through the doors of the hospital takes its toll on the staff. The community has been gracious in keeping their spirits up that way."

The chief of staff is encouraging everybody who relies on the hospital here to stay in touch with their family physician online or by phone.