BC Children's Hospital allowing 2 patients in single-patient rooms amid surge

As it struggles to cope with high patient volumes, BC Children's Hospital is now allowing two patients to share rooms intended for just one.

The hospital announced the policy in a memo to staff Friday night.

"Like other pediatric hospitals throughout Canada, BC Children's Hospital is facing an increase in the volume of patients this respiratory illness season," the memo reads. "As such, we are faced with needing to accommodate more patients in the space we have."

It goes on to explain that, "though it's preferable for patients to be in single rooms," two patients can share a single-patient room "when medically appropriate" and "if required to provide safe care."

"Similar measures have been successfully implemented in past years during respiratory season," the memo reads.

According to the BC Children's Hospital memo, doctors must consult with the facility's Infection Prevention and Control team before deciding to pair patients in a single-patient room.

"Optimally, this will involve having children not requiring additional precautions (i.e., who have no communicable diseases)," the memo reads.

It also notes that health-care providers should ask patients and their families to "consider limiting the number of parents/guardians/visitors in the room during the day and overnight" when two patients are sharing a room.

On Saturday, the hospital tweeted a similar request for those seeking treatment at its emergency room, requesting just that one parent or guardian accompany each patient.

If you're coming to our emergency department, please be considerate of waiting room space when possible. We ask that just one parent or guardian accompany a child or youth seeking care. pic.twitter.com/RyPadrfc6u

— BC Children's Hospital (@BCChildrensHosp) December 11, 2022

'PLANNING AHEAD'

Dr. Laura Sauvé, an infections disease specialist at BCCH tells CTV News that staff shortages are also playing a role in this decision, adding that it is something they are planning for but have not yet had to implement.

"We're sort of planning ahead to try to make sure that if it has to happen, it happens in a way that protects patient safety as much as possible," she says.

"Generally, we would prefer it to not happen and our colleagues will do their best to keep one patient in every room. But if need be – if numbers are high enough – we've got a process in place to put more than one child in a room as safely as possible."

The preference is to keep kids with infections separate from kids who do not have infections, but if that it not possible the next option would be to have two kids with the same infection in the same room, she explains.

In the event that room sharing becomes necessary, Sauvé says it would only be done after a conversation with families.

"It may be that we don't even need to use this," she said. "But we're kind of at a place where it's definitely possible over the next little bit."

SYSTEM UNDER STRAIN 

BC Children's Hospital and pediatric emergency rooms around the country have been struggling with a high number of patients suffering from influenza and other respiratory illnesses in recent weeks.

In Ontario, an Ottawa-area children's hospital called in the Canadian Red Cross to help with staffing. In Alberta, staff from Rotary Flames House – that province's pediatric hospice – have been redeployed to help Alberta Children's Hospital.

Neither of those options is currently under consideration in B.C.