Ritchie’s Dr. Patty Belda shares her experience of the pandemic in her own words:
How have the past few months gone for you and your colleagues at work?
March was a whirlwind of change.
Challenge 1: New routines
The hospital and outpatient clinics had to quickly adapt to the risk of more COVID-19 infections and develop protocols to keep staff and patients safe. As a family doctor working in clinic and hospital, the daily routine became vastly different. The family practice moved to mostly virtual except for urgent visits. When we arrived at work, we attended a pre-screening area where we were asked questions about recent travel, health status and received temperature checks. We then proceeded to our clinic to change into scrubs and start our day.
Challenge 2: Information overload
Every day we received new information which required constant change in our routine. We attended multiple Zoom meetings and tried to keep up with the flood of information coming from local, provincial, Canadian and international sources. I’ll have to say that my anchor was (Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health) Dr. Deena Hinshaw’s daily evidence-based updates and her calm, clear communication.
Challenge 3: PPE
We started to see a decrease in availability of personal protective equipment and then have the replacement products arrive with strong odours and incorrect fit. We worked with our teams to find solutions.
Challenge 4: Emotional strain
After work, we changed back into our regular clothes, sanitized everything we could, came home, and before touching anyone, we showered and changed again, and only then, lots of hugs and kisses for all. It has been a very stressful time. It’s difficult to not see our patients in clinic, it’s difficult to see the stress on our society as we are unable to touch each other, shake hands, hug. It’s difficult not to see our family and see how our kids miss their grandparents. It has been a challenging time.
Challenge 5: Imposition of new contract
The biggest challenge of all during this pandemic is that on March 31 our provincial government dissolved our negotiated physician contract. This has caused an unbelievable amount of stress on myself and my colleagues. Talks between our representative body the Alberta Medical Association ended and the option to proceed to arbitration was not granted. The new unilateral contract made changes with significant impact on primary care, which provides the foundation to our health care system.
How has Ritchie responded to the crisis?
It was great to once again see our community pull together and help each other. The business that donated the motorhome so a Ritchie member could self-isolate from his family and hearing about Ritchie’s Martin Kerr’s street concerts was uplifting. Initiatives such as the Ritchie Assistance Facebook page to connect people who need help, and other outreach to those who are not online helps keep us bonded.
How are things unfolding during these early relaunch days?
I am taking things day by day. We will see how the COVID-19 infection rates change as we open up and relax restrictions and then adjust accordingly. Working with an unknown future is a reality. One silver lining is that the pandemic has in some ways brought us closer together as colleagues at work and in our communities.
Do you have a message for the rest of us in Ritchie?
In Dr. Bonnie Henry’s words (BC’s provincial health officer): Be kind. Be calm. Be safe.