Supporting the fight against COVID-19
Last month, Mackenzie Health marked an important milestone when we opened critical and acute care beds at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital to support the provincial pandemic response. In the days and weeks since, the Mackenzie Health team has continued to step up at all our sites to provide support to our community in immeasurable ways.
As of today, our team is caring for 41 COVID-19 patients at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital and 16 COVID-19 patients at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital in addition to the hundreds of other patients relying on us for care every day. Today, Mackenzie Health is caring for largest number of COVID-19 ICU patients in Ontario.
Mackenzie Health is also supporting York Region Public Health’s rollout of the vaccine program to high-priority groups including thousands of seniors aged 80 years of age and older.
All this and more in this edition of the Insider.
Providing care in a new space
On February 7, Mackenzie Health opened the doors to our first patients at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital to support the surge in acute and critical care volumes at hospitals across the GTA. On that first day, more than 40 patients were transferred to Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital from Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital. In the first three weeks, our teams treated more than 90 patients from neighbouring hospitals and more patients continue to be transferred each week. Click below for a special video of highlights from our opening day.
Not only are our critical care and general medicine teams providing the ultimate in quality care to patients, they’re doing so in a new space built to ensure their safety. Enhanced infection prevention and control features were carefully incorporated into the design and build of Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital right from the start.
The majority of patient rooms at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital are single, private rooms, each with their own washroom. The few multi-bed patient rooms that do exist all have dedicated washrooms for each patient. Every unit and every pod in the hospital has an airborne infection isolation room in case a patient needs to be cared for under airborne precautions. Some units in the hospital will also be able to convert entirely into negative pressure areas. These units have separate HVAC systems that don’t recirculate the air, but instead direct air outside through HEPA filtration. This will allow care teams to separate and isolate patients in the event of a widespread outbreak by closing off an entire area.
Once the province’s COVID-19 surge has been adequately addressed, we will fully open Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital as originally planned and promised to our physicians, staff, volunteers and community. We look forward to this day and are actively planning for the full opening. Until then, the Emergency Department at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital will remain closed and programs like the Woman and Child, Inpatient Mental Health and Inpatient Integrated Stroke will remain at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital. The Emergency Department at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital remains open to the support the community, as it always has.
Vaccinating our community’s most vulnerable
Rolando was among the first seniors aged 80 years and older to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the Mackenzie Health COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital.
Mackenzie Health is supporting York Region Public Health’s vaccine rollout by administering the vaccine to seniors 80 years of age and older at the COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic located at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital.
Beginning March 1, our community’s most vulnerable became eligible to book appointments for a COVID-19 vaccine in York Region. In the first few hours, more than 20,000 appointments were booked across five vaccination sites in the region. We’re happy to step up and be part of the solution to vaccinate as many people as possible in this first phase of the provincial government’s three-phased Vaccine Distribution Plan.
We appreciate the support members of our community provided to their loved ones in helping them book these appointments online and over the phone and driving them to their appointments.
In addition to supporting the rollout of the vaccine to seniors, Mackenzie Health continues to vaccinate eligible priority health care workers, including hospital staff and local community health care providers like family physicians, dentists, midwives and frontline pharmacy staff who live or work in York Region.
Although time slots for appointments filled up quickly, we look forward to more doses of the vaccine becoming available soon. Please continue to check the York Region Public Health website at www.york.ca/COVID19Vaccine for updates and booking information.
On Wednesday, March 10, Mackenzie Health Foundation hosted a virtual COVID-19 panel discussion with members of the community. Moderated by Melanie Ng, anchor and reporter on Breakfast Television and CityNews, the panel included Altaf Stationwala, President and Chief Executive Officer and Infectious Diseases experts Dr. Danny Chen and Dr. Ivan Ying. If you missed the discussion, feel free to view a recording here.
Recognizing a health care champion
Helen Watling, a nurse in the ICU at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital was named a CBC Community Champion for the care she provides to patients.
The Mackenzie Health team provides the ultimate in care to our community and we’re being recognized for it. One of our extraordinary ICU nurses was recently nominated by her former patient as a Community Champion featured by the CBC. Helen Watling is a testament to the incredible talent at Mackenzie Health, providing compassionate care to patients and their families under the most challenging and trying circumstances in the midst of the pandemic. Take a look at Helen’s story at the 18-minute mark here.