Thought of the Day - October 22 - Healthcare Workers

Early on in the pandemic, we had the 7pm shout-out for front-line workers ( Thought of the Day - Vancouver Cheer ). Despite the amazing job they have done, more than six months later the shout is more of a murmur as the reality sets in that the pandemic will be with us well into 2021.

Overall Canada has done a great job flattening the curve, and moreover with senior health-officials leading the charge, they ensured the medical system did not get overwhelmed. Not so for many other countries. It is estimated that health-care workers, while a fraction of the general population, make up about 14% of world-wide cases. Mexico alone reports that almost 1,500 health-care workers have died due to COVID-19. And with our evolving understanding of COVID "long haulers" many more times this number have compromised health.

Closer to home, things are not quite as dire, or are they. Front-line workers outside the formal medical-care system have also not fared well. Nearly 30% of nurses and personal support workers have either left or plan to leave their jobs. Underpaid, overworked, under-represented - it is not surprising. Most worked multiple jobs, but in some provinces were told with the pandemic they were not allowed to do so, and now are caught up in news stories about abandoning their posts. While PPE was hoarded by the medical system, health-care workers in care-homes were left to fend for themselves.

With an aging population, with the belief in Canada that the family home is not the place for the elderly, and with the shortage of health-care workers before the pandemic, the industry is in crisis, and unfortunately the only light seems to be that so far the pandemic has freed up over 8,000 places. Yes 80% of Canadian deaths from COVID-19 have occurred in care-homes. And with the announcements over the past week of outbreaks in ten homes in the Lower Mainland - bringing the total to twenty - the battle is still ahead of us.

So rather than reconsidering banging a pot, use that energy to re-imagine the care-home system - the one that we all may need to rely on some day.

Cheers

Cliff