A Gorge Road Hospital patient who is days from being discharged is questioning what seems to him to be secrecy about active COVID cases on his floor.
John Ewing, 83, who wants to remain virus-free so he can be discharged to his Esquimalt townhouse as planned Thursday, said he tried to get answers after he saw indications of COVID on his wing — bins for gowns and masks outside patient rooms and a temporary closure of the dining room — but never received an outright declaration.
“I don’t see the purpose in not being upfront about it so we can look after ourselves a bit more,” Ewing, a former reporter, said in a phone interview Tuesday. “I just don’t see the purpose in keeping it a secret — what’s the benefit?
In an email on Tuesday, Island Health confirmed that the Skyview Unit at Gorge Road Hospital has been placed on enhanced surveillance after seven residents tested positive for COVID-19 from Dec. 17 to 26.
The health authority said staff and residents are being screened for symptoms twice a day and there has been “communication to staff, families and residents.”
From Ewing’s point of view, that formal communication has yet to happen.
“It’s really unfortunate,” he said. “I was feeling very frustrated because I still haven’t really had it directly or ultimately confirmed. Instead, it’s all hush-hush, it’s insinuation or a lot of speculation on our part as it’s clear there’s been some spread on our floor.”
Ewing, who had COVID in May, wondered whether the holidays, when many senior officials are off, might be to blame. He also has another theory: “I think it is that possibly people are just so sick of COVID no one wants to know.”
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control dashboard shows there were 39 people in hospital with COVID as of the last update on Dec. 22, including two in critical care on Vancouver Island. In B.C., 349 people in hospital have COVID. Thirty-five of those are in critical care.
Ewing’s daughter, Samantha Ewing contacted the Times Colonist Monday inquiring about a possible COVID outbreak at the hospital after she couldn’t get information from her home in Port Angeles, Washington.
On Tuesday, she could get confirmation only that there were cases, but not on how many.
The health authority says it continues to practise vigilance and has protocols in place to keep COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses such as influenza out of health care settings and reduce the risk of transmission.
ceharnett@timescolonist.com
Note to readers: This story has been corrected. The Skyview Unit at Gorge Road Hospital does not provide long-term care. It is a low-intensity rehabilitation unit. Incorrect information was provided by Island Health.
