Ottawa hospitals jointly respond to aftermath of fire; caution community about wait times and rescheduled procedures

A joint message from Montfort, The Ottawa Hospital, Queensway Carleton Hospital and CHEO

Ottawa, October 29, 2023 – We want to thank the community for their patience as we all work together to support The Ottawa Hospital in reopening the General to full capacity. Tonight, the Code Orange remains in effect. Hospitals and health care and community partners throughout the region are working together to ensure critical services remain available. 

Here is how the community can support  

• Patients may expect long delays at Emergency Departments across the city, unfortunately.
• If you have alternate health services providers, please consider visiting them before coming to an Emergency Department. Here are some resources:
  • Deciding to come to the emergency department (cheo.on.ca)
  • Where to go: alternatives to the emergency department (cheo.on.ca) 
  • Walk-In Medical Clinics – Ottawa (champlainhealthline.ca) 
• Should you need emergency care, we ask for your increased understanding and patience as our teams continue to work through this challenging situation.  
• Children under 18 years of age who require emergency care should go to CHEO instead of other hospitals within the city of Ottawa. 

We highlight the incredible work of all our teams, first responders and the City of Ottawa, who are working to ensure patients receive the care they need. We also thank our patients and their loved ones, and our community, for their understanding and their patience in these circumstances. 

Background on the fire at The Ottawa Hospital, General campus: 

• A Code Orange remains in effect at The Ottawa Hospital’s General campus, following the fire and subsequent closure of several units at the General campus. 
• As part of this emergency response, ambulances and patients coming to the Emergency Department at the General campus are being rerouted to Montfort, Queensway Carleton Hospital and the Civic Campus
• Patients may expect long delays at Emergency Departments across the city, unfortunately.

How the regional hospitals are responding:

• Emergency response teams have been activated at the City of Ottawa, The Ottawa Hospital, Montfort, Queensway Carleton and CHEO. Teams are working around the clock to ensure critical services are available.
• As part of the emergency response, some non-critical surgeries are being rescheduled at all city hospitals. 
• We will reach out to patients whose surgery is being rescheduled.
• Extensive clean-up and remediation activities are underway at The Ottawa Hospital and are expected to take several days to complete.