Misericordia Hospital under "full facility outbreak" due to coronavirus

Edmonton’s Misericordia Community Hospital is suffering a “full facility outbreak” of COVID-19.

According to Alberta Health Services, due to ongoing transmission of coronavirus, no patients will be admitted to the hospital, and all services are temporarily closed to incoming patients.

As of Wednesday morning, 20 patients and 15 staff members at the hospital have tested positive for coronavirus in relation to this outbreak and three patients have died.

Admitted patients who have tested positive for coronavirus are being treated on two units within the hospital.

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Day procedures and visits will be postponed or rescheduled at another Edmonton hospital.

“The full facility outbreak extends to all adult and child services including the Emergency Department. Patients should not visit the Misericordia, and should instead visit one of the other hospitals within the Edmonton Zone or call 911 if needed,” said AHS in a release.

“This step is a necessary extension of the progressive outbreak restrictions put in place on July 6, with those restrictions now encompassing all patient services at the Misericordia.”

Visitors will be restricted to end-of-life situations only, and arrangements will be made for labouring mothers at Grey Nuns Community Hospital.

“Activating the full facility outbreak is necessary at this time to protect patients, staff and physicians. We acknowledge the challenges these additional restrictions create for patients, families, staff and physicians,” said Dr. David Zygun, medical director, AHS Edmonton Zone.

“Ongoing transmission means that this is a necessary step to protect patients, staff and physicians and to ensure that the outbreak can be managed as efficiently and effectively as possible.”

Alberta Health Services and Covenant Health continue to aggressively manage this outbreak.

“The safety of our patients, staff, physicians and visitors remains our number one priority,” said Dr. Owen Heisler, Chief Medical Officer, Covenant Health. “Covenant Health, Alberta Health Services and our teams continue to work tirelessly and collaboratively, taking every possible step to respond with compassion to this challenging situation and to ensure a safe environment for care.”

There are currently 1,157 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Edmonton Zone, 243 of which are currently active.