More Chatham-Kent residents will be able to receive critical care, closer to home.
Officials with the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance have added two new permanent beds to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU,) increasing the total number of critical care beds to 12.
“This enhancement to the ICU marks a milestone for critical care services at CKHA. The expansion of the unit will not only enhance our ability to provide specialized life-saving care but also ensures patients can receive treatment locally,” said Dr. Brent Herritt, Intensivist and Head of ICU, CKHA in a news release. “The extra beds will lessen the need to transfer certain patients to larger centres, enabling more people in the community to access specialized care.”
Funding for the beds was first announced in the 2023 provincial budget, and were opened as a temporary measure that summer while renovations were carried out for two new patient rooms. The private rooms have now been retrofitted with headwalls, improved lighting, flooring, and finishes in keeping with infection prevention and control measures.
“We are pleased to open these additional beds in modern and refreshed rooms within our Intensive Care Unit,” said Caen Suni, Vice President, Clinical Programs and Operations, CKHA. “The expansion of critical care beds within the ICU not only enhances CKHA’s service delivery, it also allows our team to look at expanding care models within the unit.”
Some common ailments treated within CKHA’s ICU include respiratory failure, sepsis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD,) heart failure, arrhythmia, drug toxicity, pneumonia and diabetes.
