Doctors reduce patients to focus on fighting virus
The plan is to limit people in hospital to curtail chance of infection spreading
As an infectious diseases specialist and medical microbiologist, Marty Teltscher is one of the doctors at the Jewish General Hospital dealing with patients who have contracted COVID-19.
Teltscher works as a consulting physician for those treating patients infected by the novel coronavirus.
The biggest part of his job now is working with the team of infectious diseases doctors to pare down how many regular patients they are treating, both so they can be available to help treat COVID-19 patients and to reduce the number of people in the hospital, in order to reduce the chance of spreading an infection.
“Today in our walk-in clinic, where we usually see up to 35 people, we have seen eight,” Teltscher said.
Although he has reduced the number of patients he treats daily, Teltscher said the virus is keeping him and his team very busy, “reorganizing in order to prioritize certain services and equipment.”
While most doctors in the hospital aren’t dealing with patients who are infected, Teltscher said all hospital personnel are now pulling together to get ready for an influx of COVID -19 patients.
“What we’re expecting is the potential for many people to need medical support and a significant number of people who will need critical care and equipment,” Teltscher said. “That’s what happened in Italy, and you end up depleting supplies and personnel, and then you are left with a system that can’t cope, even with people who are not infected.
“We know what this virus can do is completely disrupt the health care system by overloading it in a rapid fashion.”
Teltscher said he’s not afraid to be working with COVID-19 patients, but he is concerned about what lies ahead.
“It’s challenging, and to a certain degree frustrating,” he said. “I wouldn’t say this is an interesting time I’d like to study. I’d rather not be here at all.”
Michael Sidel is a neurologist who sees stroke patients in the hospital. And while he doesn’t deal directly with COVID-19 patients, his practice is affected by the virus.
Sidel, an associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Mcgill, said the clinics where he works are paring down the number of patients they see in the hospital, to do as much follow-up on the phone and work from home if possible.
He, too, is working with a team of neurologists who will decide in the coming days which services they must offer and which ones can be put on hold to reduce the number of people in the hospital so that more resources can be made available for the fight against COVID -19.
“Unless they are critically urgent, we’re trying not to see people in the hospital,” Sidel said.
The ward where Sidel works is now being converted into the area in the hospital to treat patients infected with the coronavirus. As such, many of the nurses he has worked with have been retrained in recent weeks to deal with the pandemic. He said he is impressed by the dedication of the nursing staff to work on patients infected with this virus.
“The nurses on the ward are stressed. Nobody really knows what will happen,” Sidel said. “That hangs over everything. There is a tremendous sense of work and dedication, and altruism. Anyone working on the front lines, there’s a measure of self-sacrifice there.”
He said he’s not concerned he will be infected, even though he works with nurses that come in contact with the virus.
“At a certain point, you have to trust that the measures being taken are protecting the health care workers and the people that they come in contact with, so I’m protected and my family is protected.”
As an emergency room doctor at the Mcgill University Health Centre, Mitch Shulman would normally be on the front lines working with infected patients. However, he recently returned from a trip abroad and will have to isolate himself for two weeks on the orders of Quebec Premier François Legault.
Although he knows the precaution is sensible, it will be difficult for him to sit on the sidelines knowing colleagues covering his shifts will have their hands full.
“The procedure for dealing with patients who may be infected or are infected is very labour-intensive, in terms of the donning of gear,” Shulman said. “You have to be meticulous about the protocol and if you’re in the gear, it’s really tough to breathe. It’s tough to maintain focus and concentration for many hours at a stretch, especially if you’re gowning and regowning.
“There are a lot of logistical concerns, along with the practical one, like, am I going to get infected and bring the virus home?”
Teltscher said while health care workers are doing their part, he believes everyone in the country has a role to play. The outcome will depend on how well average citizens heed the warnings to avoid social gatherings and reduce contact with others as much as possible.
“It’s the most important group effort that we have seen, probably in our lifetime,” he said. “It’s as important as if we would be going to war. Everybody has to contribute in all aspects of society if we’re going to succeed.”