The emergency room at Royal Columbian Hospital has seen a 22 per cent increase in patient visits since a flood shut down the ER at Surrey Memorial Hospital on Nov. 19, according to Fraser Health spokesperson Roy Thorpe-Dorward.
This increase is equal to between 35 and 40 extra patients per day, he noted.
RCH is one of the hospitals in the Greater Vancouver area included in a diversion plan to coordinate care of patients who would have otherwise been treated at Surrey Memorial.
"Because of this increased volume, we're certainly asking people to be patient for (some) increased waits that might result, but we're not hearing anything unmanageable or extraordinary," Thorpe-Dorward said.
Between 15 and 20 per cent of patients who visit the hospital's ER are admitted, and there has been an average of eight extra patients admitted to the hospital per day since Nov. 19, he said.
Regularly scheduled surgeries have not been affected, said Thorpe-Dorward.
Surrey Memorial's ER is expected to re-open in early December.
