Those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic have been working extremely hard for the last several weeks.
Staff burnout and stress are major concerns for many health-care providers as the pandemic continues to evolve.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: 1 new confirmed case and 1 new resolved case in City of Kawartha Lakes
In the City of Kawartha Lakes, those providers are now working on getting their staff members some much needed time off before a possible second wave sometime later this year.
“We have limited staffing available, we need to ensure our staff have the supports in place to ramp up again because these are very long hours we are all putting in,” said Dr. Lynn Noseworthy, medical officer of health for Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPRDHU).
“We have to ensure our staff gets some vacation time this summer so they can relax with their family and limited circle of friends, if that’s allowed.”
It’s been all-hands-on-deck at Community Care City of Kawartha Lakes where the Meals on Wheels program has seen a 25 per cent jump during the pandemic.
“We gave all non-essential staff an extra day off over the May long weekend and staggered that so those who had to work on the long weekend benefited from an extra day off,” said Barb Mildon, CEO of Community Care City of Kawartha Lakes. “There’s been a huge focus on mental health. We are promoting our employee assistance program and its availability and publicizing the various tools available online for the promotion of mental health.”
Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay is also encouraging staff to take a break.
“We’re working to free people up so they can get their summer break, because as we know, there will be flu season, there may be a second wave of pandemic,” said Kelly Isfan, president and CEO of Ross Memorial Hospital (RMH). “Over the summer in the hospital we also expect to see emergency room volumes increase with cottagers, so we’re gearing up for that and have resources for our staff.
“We’re encouraging our staff to take vacations.”
To date, the hospital has seen one brief outbreak of the virus, but has maintained available beds throughout the pandemic.
Isfan adds the hospital is starting to see an uptick in emergency room visits, which is normal for this time of year.
Elective surgeries also resumed at the hospital this week.
Isfan said the hospital has a ramping-up plan for surgeries but also has a plan to reduce the service should it need to do so.
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Kawartha Lakes Paramedic Service has also been very busy throughout the pandemic.
Paramedics are helping out in the COVID Assessment Centre at the Lindsay Fairgrounds and are also doing in-home testing.
To date, it has provided in-home testing for more than 100 people and has helped RMH test more than 1,500 staff and residents in long-term care, retirement homes, child care centres and other congregate settings.
“We’ve had a lot of help from the Ross in making sure all of our staff is safe with the appropriate PPE,” said Sara Johnston, deputy chief, professional standards, Kawartha Lakes Paramedics. “We have several staff deployed that are working in other capacities such as logistics and community pandemic work. That will help support that community surveillance testing and testing in facilities going forward.”
The City of Kawartha Lakes also saw one of the largest and deadliest outbreaks of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, at Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, Ont.
Twenty-eight residents and one spouse of a resident died during that outbreak. Many staff members also contracted the disease.
“With 28 staff testing positive, we needed support. We are grateful to the Ministries of Health and of Long Term Care, Extendicare, our partners at Ross Memorial and all the new and temporary staff members who offered resources or joined our team during this outbreak to ensure that we could continue providing high-quality care to our residents during this trying time,” stated Mary Carr, administrator for the home.
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A virtual panel of health-care providers as well as representation from the City of Kawartha Lakes will take place on June 11 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Community members can ask questions in advance by emailing publicrelations@rmh.org or by leaving a message at 705-324-6111 ext. 6246.
The event will be livestreamed on the City of Kawartha Lakes YouTube channel as well as on Cogeco/YourTV.
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