Scott Thompson: After COVID-19, will we do justice to our heroes in health care?

When this pandemic first started, one of our main concerns was securing much-needed medical supplies — especially masks — that seemed to be in short supply everywhere in the world.

Everywhere except the country that makes the most of them, that is — that being China.

As medical supplies are secured from various sources, Canada’s main concern has now become keeping the elderly and vulnerable in care facilities alive and safe from COVID-19.

So far, it has proven to be our country’s greatest challenge.

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It has also exposed a system that is greatly unprepared and under-financed for what a pandemic can bring, not to mention the concerns that had been growing well before COVID-19.

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And it’s not as if we weren’t warned. SARS was supposed to have prepared us for future catastrophes like this.

However, a solid post-mortem is worthless if the lessons aren’t learned.

This crisis will change many things in life moving forward, and hopefully one of them will be our appreciation for health-care workers of all kinds.

Post-9/11 firefighters were the heroes of the day. COVID-19 will forever remind us how important all front-line workers are, especially in health care.

But until we as a society make that commitment, there is only so much these heroes can do.

Many systems will have to be redesigned post COVID-19. Health care should be the top priority.

We owe them at least that.

Scott Thompson is the host of The Scott Thompson Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML Hamilton.​​​​