SHA plans field hospital, COVID-19 hospital units in prep for virus surge in Saskatoon

Saskatoon’s newest hockey arena is about to be prepared as a field hospital to be ready in case it’s needed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority is already working with architects and healthcare providers to figure out how Merlis Belsher Place and the Saskatoon Field House can be used to safely receive patients if the Bridge City sees a sudden surge in cases.

SHA Saskatoon Incident Commander Suzanne Mahaffey told reporters in a briefing Thursday that the process of converting the home of Huskies hockey into a field hospital is expected to take about four weeks, with work starting just after Easter weekend.

“As the demand increases, we need to be one step ahead,” she said, noting the field hospital would be activated once Saskatoon City Hospital reached 50 per cent capacity.

In total the two facilities on University of Saskatchewan grounds would be able to host 250 COVID-19 patients at maximum capacity.

It’s just one prong of what the SHA is calling their “defensive” approach in preparing for a potential spike in novel coronavirus cases requiring hospitalization.

The Saskatoon-specific strategy also involves creating space in the city’s three hospitals for COVID-19 patients, with those areas being separated from non-COVID-19 functions. That separation would sometimes mean viral patients are being treated on a different floor, or in a different unit altogether.

SHA officials indicated Thursday that healthcare workers involved in treating these patients would be decontaminated upon exiting, and their interaction with other areas of the hospitals would be limited.

“Where we are geographically in the world … we get the benefit of learning from what’s been done well in other areas, and where they’ve had some missteps,” said Dr. Jon Witt, Saskatoon’s physician pandemic lead.

He noted they’ve discovered from watching other jurisdictions it was important to focus staff on COVID-19 patients and not have them moving to non-COVID-19 patients in other areas of the hospital.

As part of their preparation, the health authority plans to add 272 COVID-19 beds to Saskatoon City Hospital, 291 to St. Paul’s Hospital and 453 at Royal University Hospital.

Mahaffey noted that because of the recent movement of patients from RUH over to the new Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital, both from pediatric and emergency care, there was capacity in the hospital to add more beds quickly.

“We really had a hospital within a hospital,” she said.

Overall, with the addition of the field hospital at Merlis Belsher Place and the Saskatoon Field House, the SHA is preparing to add 1,266 beds exclusively for COVID-19 patients.

In a planning model released Wednesday, SHA projections showed they’re preparing for the potential of having to care for 230 patients at a time in critical or intensive care in Saskatoon during a surge in the virus. The city usually only sees demand for 14 ICU beds to be used at a time.

In addition, the model suggests 533 patients could require acute care for COVID-19 in Saskatoon at any given time during a surge in cases.

The SHA team is hoping the public will help them avoid that scenario.

“The way that we’re going to be successful in this province is all of us working together,” Witt said.

“All of us taking those public measures (seriously). To stay safe, to wash our hands, to keep your space, to identify your symptoms.”

Non-hospital healthcare professionals waiting in the wings

With so many additional beds being prepared and the potential for a massive surge in cases, the SHA was asked if it would have an adequate amount of staff to handle such a spike.

Witt responded by confirming that family physicians, medical students, physiotherapists and more have volunteered to help out as much as they can. He said family doctors have been taking competency tests to show they are qualified to assist if need be.

“Do I have a number for you today? No I don’t,” he said.

“Am I confident that as the pressure increases will Saskatchewan will pull together and we’ll tackle this as a team? Definitely.”