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Back to Search— Statement by Dr. Alan Forster, Testing Strategy Lead for the Champlain COVID-19 Response Committee and Vice-President of Innovation and Quality at The Ottawa Hospital, from Sept. 15 media conference hosted by Ottawa Public Health —
I’d like to begin by telling you what is being done to increase the region’s testing capacity. We know people are frustrated by the long lines and we hear you. None of us want this. Believe me.
These waits tell us that, with the COVID-19 surge we’re seeing now, the expansion of services so far is not enough. We have recently increased staffing and added a new site, and there is quite a bit more in the works.
Because Ottawa continues to have a large portion of the new provincial cases, we will continue to build capacity. But we also need the residents of Ottawa to continue to wear masks, physical distance, and to stay home from work or school if you have any symptoms of COVID-19.
I am here on behalf of The Champlain COVID-19 Response Committee (CCRC), which is coordinating these testing efforts. This committee is made up of health-care partners throughout the region. It includes hospitals in Ottawa, Ottawa Public Health, Paramedics and other partners in care. Our work is based on guidance provided by Ontario Health, as part of carrying out the government’s testing strategy.
As we shared yesterday, we have seen record-setting volumes at the COVID-19 testing sites in recent days. We knew that in Stage 3 and with kids returning to school we could see these volumes. To prepare, we have tripled staffing in the last month for testing children and youth at the centre. More are being trained and still more are being hired.
Additional staff are being trained to extend hours of operation at the Brewer Assessment Centre by 4 hours/day, to 12 hours of operation, 7 days/week. The hours for the drive-through Assessment Centre on Coventry Rd. will be extended as well, and the technical issues related to the booking system have been resolved. The extended hours will begin as soon as the staff are trained and we aim for that to occur within a week. We will be letting people know with your help and through social media when those new hours are in effect.
We are also looking to expand the hours for the Care Clinics run by Hôpital Montfort and the Queensway Carleton Hospital, and are exploring options for an additional testing site.
In terms of the long lines- the new drive-thru facility at Coventry road is based on online booking. The IT issues have been resolved and we are now considering how to roll out the online booking at Brewer.
We have mobile testing capacity. So, if there is an outbreak in a school, we can send a mobile unit to that school to do the testing. In the meantime, that capacity is added to what we can offer at Brewer.
This brings me to a call to action I have for the community. We are actively seeking health-care professionals, perhaps retired nurses, who would be willing to join the effort to combat COVID-19. The region’s ability to increase testing capacity and open more testing sites is affected by the human resource pool that is available. The pandemic means there is increased demand for the care providers we are seeking to staff the testing facilities. That finite human resource pool is now providing more care in hospitals, staffing more in long-term care homes and there are more nurses in schools. This is all essential work. So, if there are health-care retirees willing to join the effort, they would be more than welcome as we look to build additional testing capacity.
It would be helpful to understand the reasons why we test:
- to diagnose people who have COVID-19 symptoms, so that they have access to any treatment or advice they need; and know to remain in strict isolation until they are no longer infectious to others
- to perform contact tracing and follow the spread throughout the community, to ensure that anyone who has been exposed to COVID-19 is aware of their options
- to proactively identify cases amongst high-risk populations, including long-term care homes.
We are working day and night to increase our ability to test people and to create additional capacity in the local lab to get folks timely results.
The testing strategy continues to evolve and tomorrow the CCRC will be speaking with city councilors to continue the collaborative nature of this historic effort.
There is a lot in the works, and we want to do more. I hope to have more we can tell you about in the near future. We all want what is best for those who need care and who need testing. But we also need everyone to help. Let’s do everything we can to bring down our infection rates, so Ottawa isn’t a hotspot. Wash your hands, physically distance, wear your masks and stay home if you aren’t well. It all makes a difference, and everyone can make that difference.