By Katie Strachan
The Oshawa Express

Oshawa’s very own hospital has been chosen as a ‘host hospital’ to store critical equipment.
Lakeridge Health Oshawa will house the Central East Local Health Integration Network’s (LHIN) provincial stockpile of ventilators. This is a true tribute to the hospital’s team, says Kevin Empey, CEO and president of Lakeridge Health.
“This designation is yet another testament to our excellent critical care team, respiratory therapist professionals, and our capable and skilled biomedical engineering team who maintains this complex equipment,” he says.
“Ventilators are our life support – these machines breathe new life into our ability to provide care for our patients when they need it the most.”
In total 13 ventilators are being stored at Lakeridge Health Oshawa for situations like pandemics or other surges in ventilated patients across the LHIN, says Lakeridge in a release.
“Our staff is responsible for the distribution of these ventilators when the Central East LHIN’s Moderate Critical Care Surge Response Plan is triggered,” says Linda Calhoun, director of emergency and critical care services at Lakeridge Health.
“This state-of-the-art equipment has the capability to ventilate newborns, pediatric patients and adults.”
All of the hospitals in the Central East LHIN take part in a LHIN-wide System Surge Management Committee. The Moderate Critical Care Response Plan is activated if and when an increase and demand for critical care services goes beyond the capacity of individual hospitals and impacts the LHIN as a whole, Lakeridge Health says.
“The goal of our shared response plan is to ensure all (Central East) LHIN hospitals are prepared to meet the demands for surges in critical care activity which allow our communities to receive the specialized care they require as close to home as possible,” explains Dr. Howard Clasky, critical care lead of the Central East LHIN
“Critical care centres throughout the LHIN will now be able to access these vital resources on a timely basis.”
In total 216 ventilators have been designated to 16 hospitals across Ontario. The host sites are chosen based on location, capacity and services provided, continues the release.
“We are honoured to have been selected as the host hospital in our LHIN. This is a considerable responsibility as this equipment will play a vital role in ensuring that hospitals within the Central East LHIN have the equipment to respond quickly and effectively to unexpected increases in critical care patient volumes,” adds Doug Allingham, chair of the Lakeridge Health Board of Trustees.