WELLINGTON COUNTY – Wellington County hospitals are returning to pre-pandemic volumes of admissions and emergency department visits, according to stats from the hospital corporation’s annual report.
The Wellington Health Care Alliance’s annual report for the fiscal year of 2023 to 2024 showed there was almost 46,000 emergency department visits across the three hospitals with 21,311 at Groves Memorial Community Hospital (GMCH) and 24,662 at North Wellington Health Care’s (NWHC) Palmerston and District Hospital and Louise Marshall Hospital.
This has been part of an upward trend this decade as emergency department visits dropped in the 2020 to 2021 fiscal year to below 20,000 emergency department visits at GMCH and NWHC. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency department visits were over 46,000 at the hospitals.
Hospital admissions are also increasing and surpassing pre-pandemic levels. GMCH saw 3,210 hospital admission in the last fiscal year with an average length of stay of 5.7 days and NWCH had 1,178 admissions with an average stay of just over a week at 7.1 days.
The 2019-2020 fiscal year saw 2,206 admissions at GMCH averaging 6.2 days per stay and 1,209 at NWHC and a 7.1 day average stay.
Other noted stats in the 2023-2024 annual report include 1,157 and 1,077 oncology visits, 2,923 and 1,320 surgical/endo procedures, and 1,100 and 793 lab procedures at GMCH and NWHC respectively.
GMCH also saw 585 births last fiscal year.
“The hospitals statistics of interest helps to provide a quick snapshot of the impact the organization has on our communities,” said Kate Kobbes, VP of clinical services and chief nursing executive, in an email.
