Proud to be an important part of our community
While COVID-19 challenges have eased over the past few months, it’s important that we remain vigilant in the face of the fourth wave of the pandemic. With both of our emergency departments now open, we encourage patients who require emergency care to visit either Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital or Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital without delay to ensure they receive the right care when they need it. Our clinical teams also continue to provide care to COVID-19 patients, even while they’re at home, as part of our COVID-19 home monitoring program.
Mackenzie Health is also partnering with community organizations to provide additional resources to the residents of western York Region.
All this and more in this edition of the Insider.
Two emergency departments to serve you
Sara, Peggy and Sasha are members of the talented team providing care to our community in the Magna Emergency at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital.
Since Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital fully opened as a community hospital in June, access to emergency care has increased for our community with two full-service emergency departments to support residents who need care. Opening the Magna Emergency at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital was intended to ease capacity pressures at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital; however, Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital continues to operate at or over capacity on most days with high volumes of patients who need to be admitted to hospital.
While we’re still experiencing high patient volumes at both of our hospitals, it’s important that residents seek emergency care as soon as they need it. We have unfortunately been seeing high levels of acuity due to people delaying coming to the hospital for care. In recent months, our Mackenzie Health team has seen patients who deferred care or waited too long to come into the hospital need more intensive treatment and intervention than if they had come in at the first sign that something might have been wrong.
Both the Magna Emergency at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital and the Nick and Roseanne Cortellucci Emergency Department at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital are staffed by expert nurses and physicians who are ready to provide the safe, quality care our community needs and deserves as soon as they need it.
A virtual care success story
Respirologist, Dr. Victoria Chan, spearheaded the implementation of Mackenzie Health’s COVID-19 home monitoring program.
For 33 years, Bernard Lock worked at IBM where he was tasked with standardizing the design and structure of computer operating systems. Little did Bernie know that decades later, it would be technology that would save him from COVID-19.
Bernie contracted COVID-19 from his wife Shoshana, who became ill after a trip to the mall. While managing her COVID-19 symptoms at home, it wasn’t until she received a call from a physician leading a new COVID-19 home monitoring program that Shoshana agreed to receive care from a physician.
Mackenzie Health respirologist Dr. Victoria Chan enrolled Shoshana, and later Bernie, into the program that empowers patients to monitor their symptoms and oxygen levels safely at home with regular check ins from the care team. The program acts as an early warning system for patients. When oxygen levels near a certain threshold, patients are prompted to come to the hospital for care. By providing medical care, including supplemental oxygen, sooner, patients have a better chance of recovery.
While Bernie and Shoshana eventually recovered from COVID-19 and never needed to be admitted to hospital, they credit Dr. Chan’s encouragement and daily check ins for getting them through
“Having the support of a doctor when you have a 39, 40-degree temperature, you’re sick as a dog, shaking, and suddenly you have someone explaining things to you and interacting with you, made me feel like everything was going to be okay,” said Bernie.
To date, almost 900 patients have avoided hospital admission as a result of their participation in the COVID-19 home monitoring program, and for the Locks, support from people like Dr. Chan and her team at Mackenzie Health are a big part of how they survived COVID-19.
“She was awesome,” said Bernie. “To hear her voice when we were so sick, was like an angel from the sky —that’s how valuable it was, what you guys did.”
To learn more about Dr. Chan and the COVID-19 home monitoring program, take a look at this feature in Toronto Life magazine.
Mackenzie Health is more than two hospitals
The Mackenzie Health Vaughan Library branch at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital is now open as a resource to the entire Mackenzie Health community.
Partnering with Vaughan Public Libraries
At Mackenzie Health, we pride ourselves on being an integral part of the communities that we serve and continue to look for ways to provide supports and services to our communities.
On August 16, Mackenzie Health opened a new Vaughan Public Libraries branch at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital. Located on level 1 in the heart of the hospital near the Vic De Zen Family Welcome Centre, the library is open to Mackenzie Health staff, physicians, students, volunteers and the broader community. All visitors to the library branch must follow all public health measures in place. The 4,000 sq. ft. library will serve as an important hub of research, education and knowledge with full access to Vaughan Public Libraries’ digital collection, including more than 228,000 eLibrary materials and almost 13,000 eBooks. By having access to the library’s resources and experts right within the hospital, our patients and families can become better informed about their diagnosis and treatment plan while our community can become more educated on a wide range of topics including their health and wellness.
For more information, please visit www.mackenziehealth.ca/library
Farmers Market now open at Mackenzie Health
Mackenzie Health has also partnered with several local vendors to offer a farmers market each week at both of our hospital sites. From Sept. 1 to Oct. 7, come out and support local vendors between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Wednesdays at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital outside the emergency department entrance and on Thursdays at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital west of the main entrance. A variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, maple syrup and baked goods will be available each week. As a reminder, we appreciate everyone’s cooperation in following public health guidelines, including maintain a safe physical distance.
Read more about Mackenzie Health and Mackenzie Health Foundation in our community report and companion financial report
Stay tuned for more updates …