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An open letter to Ontario’s ‘missing’ patients:
Health care providers are ready to help you
Editor
Kristie Jones
editor@hospitalnews.com Advertising Representatives
Denise Hodgson
denise@hospitalnews.com Publisher
Stefan Dreesen
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By Harindra Wijeysundera and Patrice Lindsay hen you think about how COVID-19 has impacted the health of people living in Ontario, it’s natural that your mind goes first to the more than 500,000 who have already been infected, the tragedy in long term care, the plight of essential workers and the uneven burden this pandemic has placed on lower socioeconomic and racialized communities. How to care for those with COVID-19 and protect those most at risk has rightly been top of mind for health care practitioners and public health experts for almost fourteen months. However, there is a side to the pandemic that has not received the attention it deserves – the impacts on people accessing other kinds of care, in particular, for time sensitive conditions such as heart disease and stroke. These are the untold victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. Untold, because so many of these patients have disappeared from hospitals, clinics and doctors’ offices and even emergency departments. Today we, and on behalf of our health-care colleagues, are writing to them: Ontario’s missing patients.
W
info@hospitalnews.com
To you, the missing patient, we want to say this: we’re worried about you. We are worried you might be ignoring changes to your health because you don’t want to place additional burden on a system that you keep hearing is overwhelmed. Perhaps you feel you would not receive the quality of care you normally would. Or you might be concerned about contracting COVID-19 in our hospitals and clinics. We understand your concerns, but we want to reassure you; while our health care system is very stretched, it is not broken. We want you to know that more than a year into this, we have learned a lot and we have applied what we have learned, including how to protect and care for you when you come to see us. If you experience signs of a medical emergency like a heart attack or stroke, you should call 9-1-1 immediately. For heart attack, these signs include chest or upper body discomfort, sweating and nausea. In the case of stroke, watch for weakness on one side of your body, changes to speech or drooping of the face.
Director of Print Media
Lauren Reid-Sachs
Senior Graphic Designer
Johannah Lorenzo
ADVISORY BOARD Barb Mildon,
RN, PHD, CHE VP Professional Practice & Research & CNE, Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences
Helen Reilly,
Publicist Health-Care Communications
Jane Adams,
President Brainstorm Communications & Creations
Bobbi Greenberg,
Health care communications
Sarah Quadri Magnotta, Health care communications
Dr. Cory Ross,
B.A., MS.C., DC, CSM (OXON), MBA, CHE Vice President, Academic George Brown College, Toronto, ON
Continued on page 6 ASSOCIATE PARTNERS:
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