Simcoe County hospitals pressured by rising COVID-19 cases among patients and staff

The cracks are starting to show at Simcoe County hospitals as many patients and staff become sick amid record COVID-19 case counts.

All non-urgent surgeries and procedures are paused as of Wednesday to allow hospitals to deal with mounting COVID-19 cases as the Omicron variant infects people at an unprecedented rate.

"We are at or above capacity essentially every day," said Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital president and CEO Carmine Stumpo.

"We are seeing the transmission very high in the community. It's permeating all facets of life, which includes the team at OSMH, so we are seeing more positive cases."

The Orillia hospital is currently treating 10 COVID-19 patients and has 29 staff members who tested positive for the virus in the past two weeks.

With more restrictions and rollbacks coming into effect, health officials encourage adults to book vaccine booster doses and get eligible children first and second shots.

"The public health practices are very important right now to continue to slow the spread," Stumpo noted. "It's very difficult to stop it, but we have to try to slow it to give ourselves an opportunity to keep pace with the capacity demands that are required."

Despite mounting pressure with record COVID-19 cases and staff shortages, hospital officials encourage residents not to hesitate to seek medical attention and urgent care when necessary.