COVID-19 patients arriving at hospitals prompted the orders that are effective immediately.Elliott says patients will only be transferred to an alternate site when a hospital experiences “a major surge event.”The province has been transferring patients between hospitals for months to accommodate a growing number of COVID-19 cases, but those transfers were done with the patient’s permission.
Ontario reports more than 4,200 COVID-19 cases, second highest case count on record The second emergency order issued today allows the province to redeploy dozens of workers from home-care organizations and Ontario Health – the body that oversees the health system – to hospitals during a surge.The orders come as Ontario hospitals are preparing to start.