Severe illnesses, staff shortages and delays in the discharging of patients are leading to increased wait times in Ballarat Base Hospital's emergency department, authorities say.
Grampians Health called on people to be patient and respectful to staff while waiting to be seen.
Acting chief executive Ben Kelly said the most seriously ill patients would continue to be treated immediately, but patients with less urgent issues were waiting "longer than we would like".
On average this year, 149 people are attending the emergency department at Ballarat Base Hospital every day.
But Mr Kelly said full wards and people being "a little bit more unwell than they have been in the past" were the main problems.
"The whole of Victoria is experiencing similar issues," he said.
Staffing is also a factor, with many in isolation with COVID-19 or the flu, or caring for unwell family members.
Mr Kelly said these challenges could increase throughout winter.
Ballarat Base Hospital data shows 73 people attended the health service with flu-like symptoms last week, compared to 36 at the same time last year.
Health system bottlenecks
Mr Kelly recommended that people access other services for non-urgent care and to support family members or friends in hospital so they could be discharged early in the day.
"We try to discharge people by 10am, but have challenges with that because it may not fit in with people's social circumstances, so people are waiting in beds until they can be picked up," he said.
"We would like for people to be discharged in the morning rather than the afternoon, because it improves our ability to have patients moved through the health system."
Mr Kelly said full wards were clogging the emergency department because there were no beds to move patients to.
Other factors delaying discharges included caregivers being unwell, elderly patients being unable to return to aged care facilities due to GP availability, and patients having to stay in hospital because they were unable to access NDIS support.
"These are the sorts of things that slow up the public health system," Mr Kelly said.
"If you have bottlenecks at the end of a process you will have bottlenecks at the front."
New COVID strain detected
The detection of new COVID-19 strains BA.4/BA.5 in wastewater in the Grampians Health catchment area is also likely to affect health services.
Grampians Health chief strategies and regions officer Rob Grenfell said there was no evidence BA.4/BA.5 caused more serious disease, but there was a correlation with increased overall cases, hospitalisations and deaths.
"The more people who become unwell, the more likely it is that our hospitals are going to see continued increases in patients with COVID-19 needing care," he said.
Dr Grenfell reminded residents to isolate when COVID-positive and to continue getting vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible.
"It will keep the pressure off our local hospitals and health workers, who are already stretched, and help those in our community who are more at risk of serious illness or death if they do get COVID," he said.
The Omicron BA.2 strain remains the dominant variant in Victoria.
The detections of BA.4/BA.5 in the regions are in line with the statewide trend, with detections of the strain in Melbourne and regional wastewater catchments increasing to 12 per cent, up from four per cent on May 21.
Mr Kelly said people should not be scared of the new strain or the challenges in health services.
"The last two years demonstrated health services continue to deliver for their communities," he said.
"We acknowledge [the longer wait times], but will continue to deliver the best services we can."
