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Tuesday, June 16, 2020.
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Welcome to the second edition of the Langs e-Leaflet where we
highlight ordinary people acting extraordinary.
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During the pandemic, many of the Langs staff volunteered to be re-deployed in order to help our community:
- 11 helped the Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank with food distribution
- 5 assisted at the homeless isolation site/drop-in
- 6 helped with testing at the Assessment Centre
- 1 assisted in long term care
Following are stories of some of these legends.
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Sarah MacTavish, Administrative Assistant
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In the Photo: Sarah managing schedules at Langs
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Sarah MacTavish held a new position with the Diabetes Education Program (DEP) at Langs for just five short months when the pandemic struck. To top it off, the manager of the program was away on medical leave. Sarah stepped up to take the lead during the beginning of the crisis as the team worked to completely change the way they delivered service. Triage, support and education, forms and systems, everything was modified. For Sarah these monumental tasks also involved the added complication of adjusting to working at home with a 2 year old and a 4 year old.
Sarah appreciated being asked to attend the daily leadership meetings as the DEP team representative. What she witnessed was
“remarkable, clear and evident”
collaboration.
Sarah has always felt strongly that Langs’ values aligned with what was important for herself and her life, “
When you care for people who are in a vulnerable position and you can give them the opportunity to have their lives changed, you can then see the ripple effect in the community. And then the community changes."
“I want our community to know that we really do care,"
says Sarah as she fights back tears.
“I want them to know that we are stronger together. And that when we’re working together we really can change the world.”
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Anna Pelleboer, Nurse Practitioner
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In the Photo: Anna donning her Personal Protection Equipment
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Langs Nurse Practitioner, Anna Pelleboer is dedicated to exceptional health care
to patients and their families across the lifespan, focusing on health promotion, disease prevention & acute and chronic illness management
. At the onset of the pandemic, quick thinking and creativity meant finding a way to protect babies and their moms. This was achieved by switching education and assessments to the phone. Now when Mom and babe come to the building for vaccinations or check-ups, a system has been designed to allow them to wait safely in the car to avoid the waiting room. They are then ushered through a designated door to avoid unnecessary interactions.
Anna takes great pride in saying,
“I’m really proud to work for Langs because we’re going above and beyond and we’re always trying to find new, creative ways to be there for patients. We even made a list of our most vulnerable patients and the nurses are connecting with them by phone or virtually to make sure their needs are met, whatever they are.”
Anna has always been drawn to quick, rapidly changing, challenging situations - from hospital emergency work, to high risk obstetrics, and now stepping up during a pandemic. Anna didn’t hesitate to raise her hand to join the mobile team that conducts swab testing when outbreaks are discovered. This dedicated nurse practitioner admits,
“My Dad initially asked, ‘Is this voluntary? Are you doing it because you have to?’ And I said, 'I don’t have to, but I want to because I’m young and healthy and this is a part of why I went into healthcare.'”
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Dr. David Arnott, Family Physician
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In the Photo: Dave at the
Covid Respiratory Assessment Centre
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Since the pandemic began, Dr. David Arnott (Dave) often works 75 hours a week. In addition to serving his regular patients, Dave began working the very first shift at the Covid Respiratory Assessment Centre at Cambridge Memorial Hospital on April 1st. Since then, he works there at least two evenings a week. Dave also works with a 24/7 on- call mobile outreach team. The mobile team is tapped by public health to swab at outbreak sites.
“Yesterday, we did a clinic in Kitchener," D
ave explains. “
Today, during my lunch break, we’re gonna pop over and do some swabs at a group home.”
“It's definitely a lot. One day, there were close to 200 people. Even though the swab itself is only about 10 seconds, there’s a lot of education around it and a lot of paper work too. Even when you’re really efficient, that one day was close to nine hours."
“There’s always something more to do and you always want to do the best for your patients, so sometimes it’s hard to shut off,"
Dave admits.
“I’m sure my wife would easily attest to that as well. With a 10 month old and a two year old and with no help at all, she’s probably more sleep deprived than I am to be honest.”
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Teresa Vandebelt, Social Worker
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In the Photo: Teresa making calls from her quiet porch
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When social distancing began, Social Worker, Teresa Vandebelt knew that her team had to immediately reach out to the people they were supporting. She was, “F
rankly worried about a number of people because getting out into the community, coming to programs, counselling, or even leaving the house were the only things they did to feel better.”
A high portion of Teresa’s caseload was youth, and this presented an additional challenge - how could she get a hold of a generation who didn’t use email? She got creative. A cell phone allowed her to set up a private line. The next challenge was to provide service from a space that allowed for confidential conversations from her busy (and now crowded) home. The best option was an unheated, non-insulated, enclosed porch. So she wrapped herself in coats, boots, scarves, even toques, armed herself with a hot cup of tea and began providing counselling service from the privacy of her chilly porch.
Months of social isolation, financial and relationship stress are taking their toll on our community.
Ever the optimist, Teresa also sees an upside to the situation we find ourselves in.
“I’ve had a number of people say, ‘I miss Langs. I miss my team. I miss being able to walk into the building and have people know my name.’ And so if anything, this is really making all of us more aware of our need to connect with each other. We have this great opportunity to expand our definition of community in really active, creative ways.”
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A very special thank you to our legendary friends at Ridgehill Ford
for a donation of reusable, protective face shields
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Thanks for the many anonymous donations of cloth masks
to help keep our staff and community safe.
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Each of our staff and community partners are legendary
in their own, unique way.
Their dependability and commitment to our community
and the system make us proud.
The Langs Leadership Team
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