On March 17, 2020, when COVID-19 was declared an emergency in the Province, our hospital mobilized quickly to ensure that anyone entering our building would be safe and protected. This meant limiting the access points to the hospital as well to two entrances. Screening desks and a whole process to manage the flow of people was set-up.
Men and women from across our hospital stepped up to be our first line of defense as screeners. Initially, staff were redeployed from other areas of care and as time progressed new Headwaters Heroes were hired to support this important work.
In August 2020, our Information Technology Team created a COVID-19 screening App to eliminate some of the burden on our screeners – a tool that staff and physicians have all come to rely on.
Since the onset of the pandemic the role of screeners has evolved tremendously as well as managing the flow of people to adjust to new directives and information from public health and the Province.
Our Screeners have become the conduit of care; screening everyone prior to entering the building; making sure everyone entering our hospital is wearing appropriate personal protective equipment, is provided direction on their journey and even handling deliveries that come to entrances.
Always patient, this team tackles an assortment of people and responses and it is not uncommon to see them going above and beyond.
“I remember a staff member sharing with me an instance of a when one screener cared for a troubled man with true kindness,” recalled Lisa, Supervisor, Patient Access and Applications.
The man who was attempting to leave the hospital was visibly in distress. The man quickly became aggressive and rather than turn him away the screener responded with patience. Getting up from her desk, she escorted the man to Switchboard who was able to help him arrange his next point in care. The screener calmed him and even made him laugh at one point along the way. It would have been easy to turn him away or ask for someone else to manage the crisis but instead the screener didn’t hesitate to support the patient.
Being a screener is a difficult job especially when family members who are desperate to accompany a loved one on their care journey must be turned away as they do not meet the visitor policy criteria. Being the person to share that decision is not easy and our screeners do so with compassion.
“I am so grateful for my team of screeners who are often met with the oddest of circumstances. Our team meets these challenges head on,” said Lisa, Supervisor, Patient Access and Applications. “Our hospital is richer because of each member of this dedicated team.”
Photo caption: Screeners Heather and Janet at Headwaters Health Care Centre