While positive COVID cases are not overwhelming the health care system as they were at the beginning of the pandemic, the virus is affecting the health care system in Ottawa and across Ontario now in a different way. “This is not going to get better anytime soon, it’s just going to get worse and I think it’s going to get worse quickly,” said Ottawa nurse Christie Cowan. Her candid words come as she experiences the shortage on the front lines. Cowan says hospital staff are exhausted, overworked and struggling to cope. “Morale is very low, nurses are tired, exhausted, almost everyone I work with is on some type of medication for anxiety or depression and therapy,” she said. The issue – some describe it as a side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. While hospitals are no longer overwhelmed by COVID-positive patients, the effects of the virus are still being felt. “It’s not let’s say COVID because they’re not sick COVID patients in the hospital, it’s like the side effects,” said Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, an intensive care physician at The Ottawa Hospital. “We’re seeing emergency departments closing, ICUs shrinking, shifts struggling to fill; this is not a short-term solution issue, this is about having meaningful and long-term solutions to better rebuild our health system,” he said. Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist in Toronto. It comes as another wave of COVID in the province has peaked according to several experts, but they also say this stage of the pandemic is far from over. “Covid is not going anywhere, and these problems we see don’t have easy solutions, unfortunately,” Dr Kyeremanteng said. And so, without answers to a terrible problem, some workers are already making difficult decisions. “Nurses no longer need much of a reason to leave the hospital, leave the bed, and some leave the profession. With greater workloads, higher stress and less time, this is happening faster and faster,” Cowan said. Now, despite the fact that the health care system suffers from staffing issues – one message from health professionals has not changed at all: if you are sick and need care, do not hesitate to go to the hospital.
