Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Local doctors had their chance to speak with Ontario Medical Association (OMA) president Dr. Samantha Hill recently about a wide range of topics, chief among them COVID-19.
Dr. Joy Hataley, whose primary practice is in Napanee, was among the local representatives who attended the meeting. In comparing notes with neighbouring health regions, she says there was a general consensus that the Tyendinaga to Brockville region was faring better than most regions in Ontario. Zoning in even more locally to the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington region, there was plenty of positives. Naturally, population size is a major factor, but there were others.
“There’s not a dense population in our area and we’ve just been lucky that COVID really hasn’t gotten roots anywhere,” said Hataley. “We have a very astute medical officer of health in Dr. Kieran Moore, he’s an amazing communicator and he regularly makes videos so that he communicates directly with the population and people know what’s happening and they know what’s expected of them. I think by and large the attitude towards the restrictions in our area have been quite positive.”
A portion of the OMA meeting was dedicated to allowing doctors a chance to voice their concerns and recommend measures they’d like to see implemented at the provincial level. Hataley says the province has already put some of those in place, such as closing bars and dine-in restaurants in the designated ‘red’ zones such as Toronto. Hataley acknowledged it’s a fine line between locking down certain establishments without crippling the local economy.
“You want to allow people in the cool zones (areas with lower COVID-19 case numbers) more freedoms, it’s better for their mental health, it’s better for businesses, it’s better for economics,” she said. “I think we really stand by the regional approach that’s being taken in Ontario.”
Hataley credits not only the local health unit, but also the vast majority of residents who have followed the guidelines with helping to keep case numbers low. She added successes need to be celebrated as virus fatigue begins to set in among some people.
“This is an endurance race, catch your breath, don’t give up the plan,” she said. “Stick to the plan and stick to the guideline. If we can keep our numbers low, we are rewarded with increased freedoms. Not complete freedoms but increased privileges and it’ll help our businesses and if we can stick the guidelines it helps the local economy.”
KFLA has been fortunate compared to large centres towards Toronto that have seen more restrictions put in place. Those regions can serve as a reminder as to what can happen if cases spike.
“Some of the things are so simple,” Hataley says of practices to help reduce the risk of spreading the virus. “For the vast majority of us, wearing a mask is simple. For the vast majority of us, washing our hands is simple and keeping your distance. It’s sometimes hard to remember, I find myself stepping forward and going ‘oh’ and stepping back because we’re not used to staying six feet apart from one another. But those things are easy to do once we learn them and practice them.”
Another topic addressed at the OMA meeting was a healthcare deficit-but not one that deals with dollars and cents. Rather it’s an estimation of all the healthcare treatments that Ontarians have gone without during the pandemic.
“About 25 per cent of the care we thought people needed because they needed it every year for many years, just didn’t happen,” Hataley said, pointing to numbers gathered between March and July. Those healthcare services involve non-urgent procedures or doctor visits that still have a huge impact on a patient’s quality of life. It may lead to suffering or eventually harm.
Hataley says experts estimate the province is now about 14 million services behind in what they’d normally provide. That equates to one service for every resident in Ontario, on average. The OMA noted it was pleased the Ontario government has earmarked $1 billion in the health care budget to help account for the backlog, but also noted it won’t be easy to roll out and make up for the lost time.
Most of the doctor’s officers that were closed early in the pandemic have since re-opened Hataley noted. She says she’s found it to be somewhat of a misconception in the community as she hears from patients frequently at Lennox and Addington County General Hospital that they went to the ER because they felt they had no where else to go.
“The vast majority of doctor’s offices are open and running full bore seeing as many patients as they can virtually and bringing other patients into their office,” said Hataley. “Anyone who needs a flu shot who hasn’t gotten their flu shot yet can call their doctor’s office to make arrangements for the flu shot. In the KFLA area we have distributed over 60,000 flu shots.”
The OMA is encouraging residents to get the flu shot this year to help avoid a so-called ‘twindemic’ of spikes in COVID-19 overlapping with flu cases. So far incidents of the flu have been below average in Ontario.
When it comes to Christmas and other winter holidays, Hataley says they’ll have to look different this year.
“Going into Christmas we’re all tired and the temptation is to get a little bit slack on the guidelines but it’s still important that people over the holidays plan to stay within their household, to celebrate with their immediate family,” she said. “If people are on their own they should really only be pairing up with one other family.”
The OMA meeting did end on a positive note as news of a vaccine nearing the final stages offers hope of a return to some form of normalcy. Hataley pointed to the fact a vaccine would be available for the public in the United Kingdom as early as next week in what many experts say is a major turning point.
“The fact that a vaccine is on the horizon definitely energizes us again,” said Hataley. “We can hang in there because something’s coming that’s really going to change things up and help us.”