A mobile morgue parked by the loading docks at University Hospital in London, Ont., on Jan 5 2021.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
A hospital network in London, Ont., says it is storing bodies in a mobile unit after its morgue reached capacity.
The London Health Sciences Centre says new processes owing to the pandemic have meant more time is needed to secure arrangements for bodies.
It says that has led to the need for more interim “body holding solutions.”
The hospital network says its morgue, which serves as a regional forensic pathology unit for Southwestern Ontario, can hold up to 28 bodies at a time.
Chief information officer Glen Kearns says the use of a mobile unit is a temporary measure and one that is being used for the second time since the pandemic began.
He says the hospital network expects its morgue capacity issues to be resolved within days.
The hospital network says its morgue holds bodies for the period of time when coroners and families work together to make arrangements for the care of a loved one’s body after death.
Dr. Kanna Vela has been treating COVID-19 patients in emergency departments in Ajax and Scarborough, Ontario for nearly 10 months. She lived apart from her family at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Receiving her first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in late December has given Dr. Vela some hope for the months ahead as hospitals struggle to care for the rise in COVID-19 cases.
The Globe and Mail
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