Emergency departments at St. Clare’s and the Health Sciences began experiencing an above average number of patients this past week, and the trend is continuing.

That’s not unusual for the holiday period as people have limited access to family physicians, and outpatient and primary care health clinics are often closed or working at reduced capacity.

There was also an increase in the number of patients presenting to emergency departments with influenza-like illnesses over the holiday season.

NL Health Services says it is implementing process improvement strategies in an effort to reduce wait times and improve access and flow in emergency departments. Measures include the current expansion of the emergency department at HSC and the expansion of family care teams across the province.