Staff COVID-19 Outbreak in Emergency Department Declared Over

January 24, 2022 – The staff COVID-19 outbreak at Sault Area Hospital’s (SAH) Emergency Department (ED) is now declared over. The outbreak was contained to 2 staff members. The Ministry of Health defines a COVID-19 outbreak in a public hospital as two or more laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases involving patients or workers within a specified area within a 14-day period where both cases could have reasonably acquired their infection in the hospital. 

There are currently 45 active positive COVID-19 cases in workers at SAH, and an additional 16 individuals isolating due to household contact; these cases are not associated with the outbreak. SAH has deployed human health resources as needed through our COVID-19 Surge Plan.

Despite this challenging time, our ED remains open. Due to worker absences, patients may experience longer than usual wait times in the ED. Please be patient and kind with our workers as we manage multiple demands. Patients who come to the hospital are prioritized based on their medical needs and are not seen on a first-come, first-served basis.

If you have an emergency, please call 9-1-1 or proceed to the ED immediately. Do not delay care. Patients with non-urgent health care needs may want to consider these options before coming to the ED:

• Call your family doctor, nurse practitioner or their on-call services
• If you do not have a family doctor or your doctor is not available, please visit a walk-in clinic – Community Health Clinics
• If you are not sure whether you have an emergency, seek health-related advice from a Registered Nurse by calling
• Health811 (24/7) at 1-866-797-0000. More information is available here – Emergency Department: A Guide

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