West Parry Sound Health Centre has cleared Code Gridlock and resumed standard operation. A number of positive factors have allowed the health centre to officially return to ‘normal’ care delivery as of 2:30 p.m. on Monday 25 April.

A return to standardized care delivery includes:

• Patients are being treated in traditional care delivery spaces. Over-flow areas are resuming their normal patient care functions.

• Cautious resumption of scheduled surgeries and procedures is taking place.

• A number of patients have been safely and successfully discharged to home and long term care, as appropriate.

• Some staff redeployments may continue to be requested within the health centre
due to shifting patient care demands and COVID-19 related absences.

“The health centre is very thankful to our staff and physicians for everyone’s exceptional and immediate response to the conditions that required enacting our Code Gridlock policy,” said CEO Donald Sanderson. “Our care teams are especially thankful to the patients and families who responded thoughtfully and cooperatively while experiencing unwelcome impacts as a result of the extreme pressures that we were dealing with.”

WPSHC is also very thankful to our health systems partners at Belvedere Heights, Lakeland Long Term Care, North East Home and Community Care, and Ontario Health North.


West Parry Sound Health Centre enacted its Code Gridlock Policy on Thursday 21 April at approximately 5 p.m. The code was called due to patient volumes beyond the health centre’s normal capacity to provide care, most significantly over a two-day period, the emergency department was caring for as many as 11 patients requiring admission, with no inpatient beds available. For many days last week, the health centre was operating above 110 percent of capacity, and the emergency department was experiencing summer-like patient volumes.

WPSHC continues to remind everyone that COVID-19 is still very active in our communities. Please continue to take all appropriate precautions, get fully vaccinated, tread lightly on all public services, and always call 911 or safely travel to the health centre’s Emergency Department whenever urgent or emergency care is needed.