Surgeries, procedures resuming March 21

Birthing services to resume at WLMH on April 19

Please note the following update on the status of scheduled care and obstetrical services at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital (WLMH).

Scheduled Care

Starting Monday, March 21, scheduled procedures and surgical activity will resume at WLMH. This follows the latest provincial directive which allows hospitals to reintroduce procedures and services that were paused at the height of the omicron wave of the pandemic. Surgical teams which were deployed to support other hard hit areas during the most recent wave have returned to the site. Providers will be in touch with patients to schedule their procedures.

Obstetrical Care

Obstetrical services will return to WLMH site as of Tuesday, April 19 at 7:00 a.m. The program will return to the same model that was previously in place, with birthing services available around-the-clock from Tuesday morning to Friday afternoon. Scheduled deliveries will progress as determined by the patient’s care plan.

Temporarily redirecting these services in December was a last resort, and is not ideal from a service continuity perspective. However, it was necessary at the time to preserve enough bed capacity to keep the Emergency Department open during consecutive COVID outbreaks at the site. We are well aware of the impacts that extended periods of service redirect have on our patients and people, and sincerely thank everyone for their efforts during this time.