SUDBURY -- Frontline staff in hospitals across the province are dealing with unprecedented challenges, particularly those working to help those patients with COVID-19.

Dr. Derek Manchuk is the Chief of Critical Care at Health Sciences North (HSN), and he'll be the first one to admit they are dealing with a wide array of emotions.

"As an administrator I've been working hard with the team of managers, directors and clinicians to make sure everyone's safe," said Machuk.

"That's been both draining and challenging but it's been wonderful to see people rise to the occasion and come together. The support of the community has been amazing."

The hospital's Critical Care unit is normally for anyone with of traumatic injury or where people on life support would be treated at HSN.

COVID-19 patients have been separated from others due to how easily this virus can be transmitted.

They're also placed in negative pressure rooms and staff are dressed head-to-toe in personal protective equipment.

Manchuk was personally involved with the care of their first patient.

He along with a respiratory therapist and a critical care nurse, took him off the ventilator and watched him improve to the point where he was able to leave the hospital.

"It's very rewarding to be part of that and for the whole team to be able to support someone through their critical illness, to recover fully," said Manchuk.

"It's a good news story and cause for celebration. It brought everyone's anxiety down that this was our first patient in the ICU and we were able to get him through this."
 


"There's a lot that we don't know about this disease and that's one of the fundamental challenges, it's a novel coronavirus," he said.

Manchuk has been through this before with the SARS outbreak that Canada had once faced.

"I was an ICU fellow in the final stages of my critical care training," he explained.

"The original SARS was a coronavirus but different from this one and certainly the scope of this pandemic was much different than the original SARS so there's a lot unknown and a lot we're rapidly finding out." he said.

At any given moment there can be anywhere from 10-11 different healthcare professionals on the floor, working on a patient.

From specialists, to nurses and respiratory therapists, an all-hands on deck approach is being used.

Manchuk's team in the ICU has had three patients on ventilators, two of them have come off the device and the one has been released.

"I think there's certainly concerns across the healthcare community about a second wave, certainly the amount of outbreaks we're seeing in long-term facilities are very concerning in terms of vulnerable patients getting infections and needing to come to the hospital. So that's something everyone's keeping a very close eye on," he said.

Manchuk says they have a great group of dedicated people working at HSN and wants people to feel safe coming to the hospital. He says they are well prepared and taking every precaution possible to protect those in need of urgent care.

"All of the hospitals are working with our long-term care partners in trying to prevent that second wave[…] all of the good work that people have been doing in the community has been paying off but I don't think we're out of the woods just yet," said Manchuk.

"It's tough times, we're going to get through this as a society but we're going to need to pull together and support one another."