APRIL 14, 2020 – An infectious disease specialist at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) has issued a sobering video warning about the impact that the COVID-19 virus pandemic could have on the citizens of Qualicum Beach.
Dr. David Forrest says NRGH only has 4.5 ventilator ICU (intensive care) beds per 100,000 people. He points out that this is far less than Italy had and, as the world now knows, its health care system was overwhelmed.
NRGH is one of only two hospitals on the Island sanctioned to treat confirmed COVID-19 cases (Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria is the other).
Dr. Forrest’s credentials are beyond merely impressive. According to the College of Physicians and Surgeons David Forrest is not only a certified infection disease specialist, he is also a critical care physician, a clinician investigator and an internal medicine specialist.