Undergoing rehab, man worries overflow patients will take away hospital gym space
The Ottawa Hospital already using gymnasium at General campus for overflow patients
David Megginson is learning how to walk again after an emergency surgery to remove a cancerous tumour, which was compressing his spine.
He's worried his recovery may be stalled if the gym and exercise facility he and fellow patients at the Ottawa Rehabilitation Centre use is needed as an overflow space for patients.
"It feels like a knot just keeps getting tighter and tighter around us," said the 57-year-old Megginson.
"It's a whole systemic problem, it's not like ripples, it's like tsunamis from COVID cases."
The Ottawa Hospital is already using the gymnasium at its General campus to house overflow patients, but hospital spokesperson Rebecca Abelson said the gym at the Rehabilitation Centre could also be used if the need arises.
It's all part of the hospital's surge plans to respond to rising cases of COVID-19 and health-care staffing shortages.
On Thursday, the hospital reported 148 patients with COVID-19, including 15 in an intensive care unit.
Abelson said the number of patients receiving care in the General's gymnasium fluctuates each day, depending on need.
"Using the gymnasium allows staff to have more space and to provide more overall support to patients," she wrote.
'We just want him to get home'
Megginson's time at the hospital began with an emergency room visit in early October because he had trouble walking. What he thought might be a herniated disk turned out to be a tumour that needed surgery, leaving him paraplegic.
"I'm just waiting for the nerves to wake up now. I'm making good progress, but I've been in hospital for three and a half months," he said.
Megginson's wife, Bonnie Robinson, said the experience has been hard on the family and she worries her husband could face an extended stay if the hospital can't keep up with new patient needs.
Robinson said it bothers her when people describe the Omicron variant as just a cold, without understanding the implications the latest variant of COVID-19 has on the health-care system.
In December, Robinson said her husband's treatment was already delayed by about three weeks after a COVID outbreak on his floor.
"We just want him to get home. So if he has delays to that treatment, it might prevent him from coming home as soon as he otherwise would," Robinson said.
Right now, Megginson said he is mostly using the exercise room that's attached to the gym, but he hopes to move to a walker soon before heading home in the next couple of weeks.
"Things are just getting harder and harder, and I know that we're not unique here in the rehab centre for that. I know that's happening everywhere in health care," he said.
The hospital said it continues to make adjustments to ensure all patient care can continue, including physiotherapy.