Staff
FORT FRANCES—Riverside Health Care Facilities, Inc. will amalgamate the two nursing floors at La Verendrye Hospital here onto one effective Oct. 12, with Complex Continuing Care and Pediatrics being moved down to St. Andrew’s.
“Mainly it’s occurring because of low [patient] census,” Riverside president and CEO Wayne Woods explained Friday morning.
“At any point in time, we may only have 15 to 20 patients in the hospital in total,” he noted.
“And it seemed prudent to us to combine the two floors for a short period of time.”
Woods said the amalgamation will last for 13 weeks, and be monitored daily.
At the end of the three-month period, if the patient census continues to be low, Riverside many increase the length of the amalgamation.
But Woods also indicated a contingency plan is in place so should there be an influx in patients during this period, they can convert back to two floors within 12 hours.
Staff already have been notified of the temporary layoffs.
Woods, meanwhile, stressed that patient care continues to be their prime concern during this time.
(Fort Frances Daily Bulletin)
