GGH Doctors lead through teamwork

COVID-19 has placed tremendous strains on ICUs across the province and ours is no exception. Staff from various areas of the hospital have been redeployed into the unit to help out.

Not long ago, Dr. Lala and Dr. Raso, Guelph General’s Critical Care physician leads, were trying to schedule staffing for the ICU, as well as the new critical care beds in Step-Down and in the Post Anesthetic Care Unit. Normally, the Hospital runs 10 critical care beds, but expanded to 16 to care for the influx of critically ill patients.

Alongside the regular sorts of patients requiring time in the ICU, there were COVID+ patients from Guelph and Wellington. Guelph General was also caring for patients that were transported from hospitals in Etobicoke and Brampton.

There was simply no way the regular medical staff could cover all of those patients for all of the available shifts; the situation was dire.

Drs. Lala and Raso sent a quick email to the Emergency and Anesthesia Departments with a 2-month schedule of shift availability. In just a few hours, the sign-up sheet was full!

Dr. Jennifer Caspers, Chief of Staff, was not surprised. “I was very pleased and most impressed when I heard how quickly the doctors stepped up to support their colleagues in ICU. When your teammates are drowning, you jump in, don’t you? It was so uplifting to see our specialist areas cross-support one another to enable the system to be as robust as possible. This is what we have come to expect from our exceptional physician colleagues.”

Through their supportive teamwork, these doctors show that they truly are leaders in patient care excellent. It’s not easy to adapt to constant change and applaud their flexibility and dedication.