With permission of the doctors at the Pemberton Medical Clinic, we would like to share some of the incredible measures our local doctors, nurses and their team members have been doing to prepare locally for COVID-19. Due to the extraordinary precautions taken by our community members, visits to the clinic and ER department have reduced, giving the doctors a window of opportunity to practice their ‘surge planning’ (also known as preparedness planning). With the support and direction from Vancouver Coastal Health and the Provincial Medical Health Officer, the health care workers have been working hard to prepare the facility, stock supplies and practice simulations. Some of these preparedness actions include:
- training exercises and simulations
- sourcing resources such as hand sanitizer, personal protection equipment and oxygen
- planning for transportation of patients needing hospitalization
- backfilling triage and support workers, in the event they are needed
- sourcing locations for isolation beds
- planning for additional assessment measures and space, should it be required
- ensuring there is capacity to care for the ‘healthy-ill’ (non-COVID-19 patients)
The Village continues to work closely with the Doctors to provide planning and resource support. We are extremely proud of medical team at the Pemberton Medical Clinic; we are confident in their expertise to prepare and manage the next few weeks to come. Please continue to support their hard work by staying home, washing your hands, isolating when required and banging those pans at 7pm. The Staff at the Clinic have asked us to publicly thank those who have sent generous donations of supplies and food:
- Clif Bars
- Cranked Coffee
- Collective Kitchen
- Grimms Deli
- Linda Ronayne
- Molli Reynolds
- Remax
For more information on Provincial preparedness measures visit www.vch.ca.
Photo by Brittany Carroll