Hello, Boozhou, Bonjour.

Entering the 5th wave of the pandemic was not how we were hoping the new year would begin for you.

As you know, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in this province is the highest it has been during the pandemic and we’re not immune from that in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario. Like others, we are continuing to see an increase in hospitalizations and we have not peaked yet as we expect cases to continue to rise over the next several weeks. I know how challenging it has been for all of you to cope with this continual shifting landscape within our Hospital, community and health system – and I am sorry you are still dealing with it.

As predicted, in our Hospital, we are seeing an increase in critical care admissions, general admissions, COVID-19 admissions, outbreaks and staff shortages unfolding like other areas of the province. And while the risk of Omicron increases – and while I know you are all incredibly mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted – I am reminding you to please be so very diligent in your adherence to PPE protocols, to ensure we protect all of you at this difficult time.

One of the most significant issues we are facing this time in the pandemic, given the high degree of transmissibility of Omicron, is the pressure and shortage of our own health care professionals. The rapid spread of Omicron has forced many of you to either self-isolate because you’ve contracted COVID-19, or because of a close contact, or be home to take care of children or aging parents who have been exposed. The critical aspect of the situation across the province has led to changes in testing criteria, and isolation requirements and continues to impact our workforce, such that today we have about 4% of our workforce off. This is not unique to TBRHSC. It’s the same across the province, the country and the globe.

Our Hospital has been ensuring that we continually respond to the evolving situation with several measures to keep you and your families, our patients and our communities safe, while preserving access to quality care. 

We have ramped down surgical and procedural care, enabling us to redeploy additional staff to areas of need. 

We have also changed return to work and work isolation guidance to ensure asymptomatic staff with COVID-19 exposures are able to safely return to work with the ability to do staggered PCR and antigen testing. We have also adjusted the staffing model in some areas to support the ongoing delivery of critical and urgent services across our organization. While we know the backlog of hospital surgeries and procedures is growing, the demand for additional capacity and human resources requires us to act in this way. 

Given our organizational focus on COVID-19 response, we have decided to shift the Strategic Plan 2026 Launch to a later time. As you may or may not know, our Hospital and Health Research Institute’s Strategic Plan 2026 is now complete and we intended on rolling out this work later this month – however, this is not the time. I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you who were involved and provided feedback….and recognize the importance of this work to guide set our organizational direction. As part of the soft launch, we will begin by replacing Strategic Plan 2020 references with our Strategic Plan 2026 content and visuals throughout the Hospital, online and across our social media channels to highlight our five priorities. The hope is that we will be able to gather in one way or another in Spring to officially kick off and celebrate the culmination of all of the incredible work very soon. Strategic Plan 2026 is our hope and vision – a new beginning and our roadmap to the future.

Finally, we owe a debt of gratitude to you and all our teams that continue to navigate the occupational health process, infection prevention and control shifts, and each one of you that support and care for our patients and their families, as well as the additional challenges you may face in your home life. Thank you for your continued dedication, commitment, and understanding.

Please be safe, take care…and know how much you are appreciated.

As always, I welcome comments on this blog or any other matter. You can reach me at: crockerelr@tbh.net