It has been just over a month that Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare has initiated our response the COVID-19 pandemic.

While this month has been filled with uncertainties, constant change, and challenges, we are proud of the efforts and work we have done to support Our People, our partners, and our community. In today’s special edition of E-Connect, we will share some of these initiatives with you and give thanks to the countless individuals and companies who have stepped up to show their support.

Stay well,

Maciah

As a non-acute hospital, HDGH's role during this time is to alleviate the bed pressures within our broader Windsor-Essex acute care hospital system.

Our role is the “first in and last out”. "First in" because of the extensive number of admissions we accepted from our acute care partners throughout March and into April. “Last out” because at some point, there will be the need for HDGH to accept patients post-COVID-19 who are recovering and involved in rehab and restorative care due to the deconditioned state of patients who survive.

Over the past month, HDGH has seen an influx in patient transfers. From March 1st to April 14th, we accepted a total of 285 new admissions, bringing us to an occupancy of 84%.

Additionally, we saw 213 discharges and 92 internal transfers throughout the month of March, a 27% increase from March 2019.

We are thankful to our intake and admissions team for their hard work to make these transitions as smooth as possible for all involved.

Effective March 21st, HDGH made the difficult, but necessary decision to restrict visitors to only our patients who are receiving end of life care. These restrictions remain in effect and we are tremendously grateful for the understanding and patience we have received from patients and their loved ones.

We understand how difficult it is to not see your loved one for an unknown amount of time and although we encourage our patients to connect with their families through telephone and video calls, we know this can be difficult for some to navigate.

To provide ongoing support and companionship for our patients, the HDGH Family Support Team was established. This team of 22 redeployed staff meets with patients regularly to check on their well-being, see if there are any items they may need, and connect them with their loved ones at home through phone or video chats.

There has been a tremendous response to the Family Support team so far with messages of gratitude being shared by family and patients alike.

Unfortunately, our current reality is that the visitor restrictions we have implemented will most likely last longer than any of us had ever originally projected. As a result, we hope to offer our patients and loved ones a safe and standardized way to visit with one another through our Family Support Team.

These visits will be pre-scheduled and take place in our barricaded courtyards at HDGH while adhering to all Public Health precautions. The team is in the process of launching these visits.

Thank you to our Family Support Team for being an invaluable part of patient care. We know that the mental health of our patients is just as important as their physical health; being able to offer them the comfort and reassurance from just hearing the voices or seeing the faces of their loved ones brings immeasurable amounts of healing.

Individuals who need urgent mental health and addictions care now have a new option. As of April 16th, they can now be referred, phone or walk into the Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor-Essex County Branch (CMHA WECB) located at 1400 Windsor Ave. for a short-term intervention by a multidisciplinary healthcare team. 

The initiative is a joint response to COVID-19 and its effects on those suffering from mental health and addictions from HDGH and CMHA WECB. A multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurse practitioner, addictions worker, psychiatrists and social workers will begin tomorrow to assess, deliver and coordinate the most appropriate care to these individuals.

 

The Mental Health and Addictions Urgent Care Centre (MHAUUC) will start as a three-month project in response to COVID-19 supporting adults and youth aged 16 years or older who cannot safely wait for community mental health and addiction support. The service is intended for those experiencing a mental health or addictions crisis or who are having an acute and intensive need, at risk of worsening mental health condition that may require hospitalization.

 

"Pandemics never affect all populations equally. As two organizations leading in mental health care service delivery, our shared vision of a more seamless care experience for our citizens living with mental health and addictions has led to the timely and efficient launch of the MHAUCC as a response to COVID-19," said CMHA WECB CEO Claudia den Boer who also acts as HDGH's Executive Lead for Community Mental Health. "We are all in a unique situation that has required unique solutions - the MHAUCC is right now one of those solutions."

 

The goal of the MHAUCC is also to help acute care partners in lessening the burden within emergency departments. In this way, our acute care system can attend to the many individuals arriving at the hospital for truly acute care needs and/or COVID-19 related medical issues.

"Windsor Regional Hospital is very supportive and happy that this service is moving forward," said Dr. Wassim Saad, WRH Chief of Staff. "It is most definitely in the best interest of our patients and we will work together to make it a success."

 

Psychiatrists from both HDGH and WRH will roster with the MHAUCC.

 

Hours are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 11:30 am- 7:30 pm and Tuesday, Friday 8:30 am - 4:30 pm and will be closely monitored based on need.

 

A person SHOULD GO TO THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT if experiencing:

 

More information is available on both the  CMHA WECB  and  HDGH websites . Self-referral, physician and healthcare provider referrals are accepted. Individuals can also walk-in to the MHAUCC during hours of operation or call 519-257-5111 ext. 77968 if they have questions whether to attend.

In mid-March a number of HDGH outpatient and home-based programs and services were deferred to help ensure the safety and security of our staff and patients.

Though their program was included in the temporary closure, many of our dedicated staff were eager to continue supporting our patients and community and were redeployed to other areas throughout our organization.

A total of 132 staff were redeployed to services including the Patient Care Team, Family Support Team, screening desks, and various other areas.

In addition, with the influx of new patient admissions, our hospital and our staff were feeling the strain. As mentioned, the Patient Care and Family Support Teams were created to support these changes, however to bring a more clinical expertise in to help, HDGH welcomed the application of recently retired nursing staff as well as nursing students near the end of their schooling.

Thank you to our Human Resources and Orientation training teams for training and/or retraining all of these individuals.

Despite the overwhelming show of support from community to healthcare workers and all those considered on the 'frontline' of the COVID-19 pandemic, this work is tough; it takes a toll on Our People physically, emotionally, and mentally.

To further understand the psychological impact this pandemic has on healthcare workers, our Research and Evaluation team at HDGH has been successfully awarded a grant through WE-SPARK Health Institute's Igniting Discovery - COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant call.

The purpose of this study, led by Dr. Jennifer Voth, HDGH Research Associate (pictured), Dr. Lindsey Jaber, University of Windsor, and Linda MacDougall, St. Clair College, is to explore trends in self-reported psychological distress among health care workers (HCWs) across the continuum in primary care, hospital-based, and long-term care in Windsor Essex County at two stages of the epidemic, during and following the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis. This study will also provide insight into factors associated with distress in HCWs and explore ways in which local mental health providers can support, promote, and restore the emotional well-being of healthcare staff.

"All healthcare employees are facing unique challenges due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and these challenges will undoubtedly impact their well-being over time," says Janice Kaffer, HDGH President and CEO. "This WE-SPARK grant will allow us to engage with healthcare providers across Windsor-Essex to determine how we can best support, promote, and restore their emotional well-being during and after the pandemic."

Stay tuned for more and be sure to watch for the web-based survey that will be distributed by the beginning of May.

HDGH is proud to be a partner organization of WE-SPARK who funded 21 grants for a total of $142,874 through these COVID-19 grants. In addition to the 21 Principal Investigators, these projects included 50 co-applicants/collaborators, 28 students and over 20 volunteers. Each of the four WE-SPARK partner organizations are included on multiple grants with 16 additional academic, community and industrial partners.

All the details on the projects can be found on the WE-SPARK website . 

ThankHealth.org  is a Windsor-made website that allows individuals from around the world to send praise to healthcare workers.

Created by the son of one of our Social Workers, the site has been live for just a few short weeks with ten countries already sharing messages!

"As a software developer, I felt like there wasn't much I could do to help during times like these. So I thought I should use my skills to make a difference. Now others who are feeling helpless at home can leave a message to show their appreciation!" says Alessio,  thankhealth.org  creator.

Show your appreciation by visiting:   thankhealth.org

As the team at HDGH works hard to ensure we are maintaining high-quality care as well as a positive patient experience during this time, our community has truly stepped up to make this feat more manageable and rewarding.

We would like to take the time to sincerely thank every single organization, business, and individual who has rallied behind HDGH and made some sort of contribution to our cause. Whether it was food for our nearly 1,200 staff, equipment to keep us protected, individual department perks, or simple messages of gratitude, every act of support has meant the world to our entire organization.

With new donations and initiatives coming in every day, our HDGH Foundation team has been keeping a running list of those who have supported us. Thank you to all those listed below and to those we may have missed.