Without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic is the most pressing issue facing everyone in our department. Whether it’s concern for loved ones at risk; the added pressures of childcare due to public health social-distancing measures; adapting to the many changes and changing messages that keep coming, one after the other; or the emotional drain that comes from seeing the devastation caused in far-away places — particularly as it gets closer to home every day — we are all feeling the impacts at both a professional and personal level.
I want to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone in the department for the calm, professional, and caring ways they have stepped up to the challenges we’re facing. We’ve managed to rapidly adapt to the evolving situation.
The education team has been busy bringing residents home from afar, rescheduling and revising rotation schedules and moving educational activities to virtual spaces. In the clinic, we’ve been able to move quickly to phone visits and are planning for video visits. We are rolling out enhanced infection-control measures and working to support the implementation of our local COVID-19 assessment centres.
Many staff members have moved to working from home, and have been busy adapting to new technology and software. Through it all, everyone is rising to the challenge. I feel incredibly lucky to have such a great team!
As a department, we have launched a weekly Zoom meeting (Tuesdays from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m.) open to all faculty, staff, and residents, to provide everyone an update on our activities and an opportunity to ask questions. At our first meeting, held this week, 102 department members joined the meeting, and it was great to see lots of participation! (I’ve linked to my Powerpoint presentation here.)
I’d like to shout out thanks in particular to the dedicated team of senior managers and leaders who have been working with me as our response team: Allen McAvoy, Laura McDiarmid, Diane Cross, Dr. Karen Hall Barber, Dr. Brent Wolfrom, and Dr. Kelly Howse. They’ve been tireless in their efforts, and our response would not have been possible without them sacrificing a fair bit of their personal time to address these issues as they were developing.
I want to bring attention to our Public Health and Preventive Medicine program, too, as I think it sometimes gets overlooked. The residents and their faculty supervisors — especially Dr. Kieran Moore, Program Director, and KFL&A Medical Officer of Health — are working non-stop to help “flatten the curve.” They’re doing a super job, and all deserve our thanks and support at this critical time. If you’re active on social media, consider using your platforms to promote effective and accurate messages from this team, as well as our provincial and national public health agencies.
I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t seen it yet to review Dr. Wolfrom’s blog on CMAJ. It’s a very helpful reflection and a great example of how we can share our expertise effectively at this critical time.
Through it all, one routine activity I have chosen to continue is my annual meetings with faculty members. It’s been both inspiring and therapeutic to take some time to hear about all their accomplishments over the past year and aspirations for the future!
I’d like to close by reminding everyone that we’re all in this together, and here to support each other. Please reach out if you are in need of help or support, and make ensuring your own health and wellness a priority!