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Manitoulin’s COVID-19 field hospital 'impressive', Nickel Belt MPP says

The facility is equipped to care for mild to moderately ill patients with COVID-19 requiring hospital admission
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Hospital officials and local municipal and First Nations leaders met with Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas and Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Mike Mantha to tour the Manitoulin Health Centre’s new COVID-19 alternative care field hospital in Little Current on Aug. 25. Supplied photo

Manitoulin Island’s new COVID-19 field hospital is an example of what a resourceful community can do with few resources, according to Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas. 

The new facility, which is located in the NEMI Recreation Centre in Little Current, has been in the works since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic this spring. 

Gelinas, along with Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Mike Mantha and a number of community partners, paid a visit to the Manitoulin Health Centre’s near-completed alternative care site on Tuesday. 

“It is really impressive. The Manitoulin Health Centre has really thought this through, and they have built something that makes sense for their community,” she said. 

“For me, touring this facility was really an opportunity to learn from all of the people involved in the decision-making process to better understand how different communities in the north can prepare themselves for a second wave of COVID-19 because a plan for Manitoulin will be very different from a plan for Sudbury.” 

The new field hospital was built by MHC’s facilities department and a group of local volunteers as part of the health centre’s surge capacity plan as required by the provincial government’s Regional Command Centre. 

In the event of an outbreak, the facility is equipped to care for mild to moderately ill patients with COVID-19 requiring hospital admission. 

MHC’s two hospital locations in Little Current and Mindemoya will continue to support both critically ill patients with COVID-19 and patients not infected by the virus. 

“We’ve set it up so that if we have a case of COVID-19 on the Island and the patient requires hospitalization, then we will designate the Little Current hospital as the COVID-19 site, and the Mindemoya site will continue to care for our other patients,” said Lynn Foster, president and CEO of MHC. 

“Once we have identified a case, we will be able to get the field hospital up and running within 48 hours. If capacity is reached at our other locations, then the use of the field hospital will be activated.” 

The ward itself is located on the second floor of the recreation centre, accessible via an elevator. Its 27 electrically-adjustable beds are separated by plastic-encased walls – each “room” is equipped with end tables, chairs, and IV poles. 

“The site has respirators, oxygen lines, wheelchairs and even big loungers where people can sit. You can see that the health centre is prepared and understands what will be needed for the people of the Island,” said Gelinas. 

The recreation centre was determined to be an ideal location for a number of reasons, including its proximity to the Little Current hospital site. 

The location is also unique because it has two separate ventilation systems – the ward has been set up so that the area where staff don and doff PPE is ventilated separately from where the patients would be located. 

As part of the tour, guests were also invited to witness a demonstration of one of the MHC’s newly acquired portable ventilators that were purchased with the help of a fundraising campaign organized by M’Chigeeng First Nations Chief Linda Debassige. 

“It’s quite amazing how the Island always comes together in times of need," MPP Mike Mantha. "The alternative care site field hospital has come together quite well. They’ve developed a strong plan and the 27-bed facility, which will accommodate staff, doctors, PSWs, RNs, and more, along with the ventilators that they need, is first class." 

“The great thing about this facility is that it will not only help address the Island’s needs in the short-term, but it will also be able to serve the communities of Manitoulin for many years to come. The field hospital was designed to be mobile – it is easily packed and stored and can be used for potential disasters in the future.” 

The field hospital project was spearheaded by Vice-President of Clinical Services and Chief Nursing Officer of MHC Paula Fields and Chief Financial Officer of MHC Time Vine. 

It was also made possible by community partners, including local First Nations and municipalities and retired healthcare workers who volunteered their services to get the location operational. 

According to CEO Lynn Foster, MHC has received a letter of commitment from the provincial government about additional funding to support the project, although nothing is set in stone. 

“There was no way that we could wait until there was certainty around the funding. We knew that there was a need and that we needed to move,” she said. 

“It’s one thing to say we’re prepared for a second wave of COVID-19 and another thing for our community to actually see it. This field hospital is a representation of our combined efforts together as a community. Here, on Manitoulin, we are as prepared as we can be as a team.” 

- Colleen Romaniuk, Local Journalism Initiative, Sudbury Star
 



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About the Author: Colleen Romaniuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Colleen Romaniuk is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, a Government of Canada program, at the Sudbury Star.
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