Military help for pandemic-hit Ontario hospitals starts at Sunnybrook in Toronto on Friday

A Canadian military task force that includes health-care personnel willstart helping staff at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre's field hospital and intensive-care unit (ICU) in Toronto starting Friday, part of its deployment to Ontario hospitals strainedunder COVID-19 caseloads.

Maj. Sonia Dumouchel-Connock, a spokesperson for the Joint Task Force Central (JFTC), said Sunnybrook had "urgent staffing needs."

Col. Stphane Masson, tasked with leading the military's deployment to Ontariohospitals, said prioritizing Sunnybrookwas a provincial decision. There are also talks to determine Hamilton's and other area hospitals' needs.

"The members of the task force are in daily discussion with the province to make sure we can provide the best effect with the members we have on the ground," Massonsaid in an interview on Thursday.

"We are in discussion with Hamilton Health Science to see what their need could be."

WATCH: Here's how Sunnybrook's field hospital will help:

Toronto field hospital 'tool in the toolbox' for surging patient load, says emergency planner

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An 84-bed field hospital at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre is close to being ready to accept recovering COVID-19 patients, says Robert Burgess, senior director of emergency preparedness at the hospital.

Bringing in the military comes as COVID-19 pushes Ontario hospitals past their limits.

As of Thursday morning, the provincial websitereported2,248 people with COVID-19 in hospitaland 884 intensive-care unitpatients, 620 of them on ventilators.

Mason saidPublic Health Canada approved the request for extra help on April 25.

Task force staff towork till at least May 31

Dumouchel-Connock said Task Force PRESIDIO, asquad of 50 military members, trained at the Toronto hospital overthe past two days and will start its first shift Friday.

Providing care and support to the partners and the community, there's no better mission than that.- Col. Stphane Masson, leading military deployment to Ontario hospitals

The task force includes a command and support element, nine critical-care nursing officers and two medical teams with 17 members each.

The critical-care officers have the same skills as civilian ICU nurses, Dumouchel-Connock said, and will help relieve the Sunnybrook ICU, which is at capacity.

The medical teams, each mainly consisting of nursing officers and medical technicians, will help the field hospital's staff.

They'll tend to patients, and help with triage andsome assessment of "vulnerable populations."

The field hospital will care for patients in relatively stable condition. There are six patients in the field hospital and two more are expected to enter it Friday.

The task force will work in Toronto until May 31, but could stay longer if the military decides an extended stay is needed.

Masson said the members are ready and proud to get started.

"Providing care and support to the partners and the community, there's no better mission than that."