COVID-19 field hospital an emotional experience

Unforgettable journey inspiring for doctors, writes Danielle Soulliere.

I was six weeks into practicing on my own when the COVID-19 pandemic began to surface in the Windsor area.

I was just getting settled into my new life as a staff physician and was loving every second of it.

It seemed like things moved so quickly and overnight it was an all-handson-deck mentality. We were rearranging call schedules, starting a COVID-19 assessment centre and ultimately creating a field hospital.

At the time, it was going to be used to move patients out of our acute care centres, but it evolved to be so much more than that.

My time spent at the

St. Clair field hospital was a mere 12 days. This is nothing compared to the journey most of my patients have had.

It was not at all what I expected. Initially, I feared the thought of going.

My experience in the main hospital had been complicated. It was early in the pandemic and there was lots of uncertainty. There was paranoia around contracting the virus ourselves or potentially spreading it to our loved ones.

The hardest part centred around families desperately wanting to see their loved ones. I spent most of my day counselling families over the phone; it was important, but emotionally exhausting work.

My experience at the field hospital could not have been more different.

Of course we had difficult conversations, but for the most part this was a joyous place, where even the smallest accomplishments were celebrated.

Under the excellent guidance of our leader and chief of family medicine,

Dr. Chevalier, we celebrated everything from birthdays, to improved appetites, to stable blood pressures. We had tea parties, spa days and recreational sport activities including beach ball throwing and balloon tosses.

Most importantly, we celebrated the lives of those we lost and those who made it through this journey.

It was incredible to see the community rally around us.

They provided countless meals, sewed masks and caps for front-line workers, provided encouraging messages and decorated the walls of our hospital with artwork to make it a bit more like home.

The staff at this hospital was second to none.

Amazing nurses, pharmacy technicians, clerks, ambulation assistants, dietary workers, spiritual care, security staff and my fellow physicians Drs. Chevalier, Kennette and Ruisi.

We were all there for a common goal: to care for your loved ones.

The final day there was difficult for me as I fought back tears saying goodbye to my first two patients.

However, this emotional experience was not like before, these were happy tears, tears of success as my first two patients were fully recovered from the virus and were ready to be discharged.

It was surreal. The dedicated staff lined the sidewalk, we clapped and cried as each one passed by. It was a beautiful moment, one I will never forget. I’ve been blessed immensely to have been a part of such a momentous experience.

I’ve grown so much as a physician and as a human through all of this. What an amazing way to start my career, surrounded by such inspiring leadership and outstanding teamwork.

This spring, we celebrated a new kind of graduation. One where our now recovered — and Covid-19-negative patients — moved from our field hospital to Hotel-dieu Grace Healthcare.

And throughout these small victories, we remember all of those we’ve lost.

My sincerest condolences to their families and friends. Please know we did everything to make your loved one a part of our family.

As the world begins to reopen and we try to get back to our regular routines, I urge you to be smart and be safe. Please continue to practise social distancing, be vigilant and, most importantly, be kind.