The latest and most intense wave of the pandemic has brought yet another challenge to hospitals across the country: significant health care staff shortages. These shortages have arisen, in part, because of the highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, which is affecting staff and necessitating that they self-isolate.
By mid-January, the number of clinical staff off work due to illness or exposure surpassed 1,000, requiring UHN and other healthcare institutions to find creative ways to continue to deliver patient care safely.
As case numbers began to rise, and staffing numbers started to drop, a contingency plan was needed. At UHN leadership meetings, a potential solution was proposed: could non-clinical staff volunteer for redeployment to clinical areas?
“We had not redeployed non-clinical staff to clinical areas before; we had to be thoughtful about our approach and wanted our staff to have a positive redeployment experience,” explains Dharsha Quintero, UHN's Director of People & Culture and one of the leads for hospital redeployment operations.
“We were overwhelmed with gratitude at the number of individuals who volunteered to be trained for this newly created role of hospital support aide (HSA). In this role, staff would not be expected to provide any direct patient care, but would receive appropriate training to attend to care tasks—such as answering call bells, changing linens, and supporting virtual calls with patient family—that help alleviate some pressure from the inpatient areas short on clinical staff.”
By early January, a total of 700 staff, both clinical and non-clinical identified for redeployment. In addition to the volunteer HSAs, more than 60 UHN Research staff were trained and redeployed as HSAs and personal protective equipment coaches to support the technical areas.
Dr. Brad Wouters, UHN’s EVP of Science and Research commended these efforts, saying, “I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the members of our research community who were redeployed in the current and previous waves of the pandemic.”
“You have demonstrated your commitment to A Healthier World by supporting our clinical colleagues and frontline staff in various roles. Thank you for your dedication and for helping to minimize the strain on our hospital system.”
Source: UHN.ca