Hallway Medicine- Who is chosen?

“I invite the premier, health minster, and the people directly responsible for this decision to come for a sleepover in the hallway of one of our hospitals for a few days. Once you have experienced the indignity of eating, sleeping, and toileting in a thin gown in front of a ward full of people, visitors, doctors, custodial staff and other allied health-care workers, I might be willing to accept that this policy was made in an informed way.”

The above is from a powerful opinion piece written by Manpreet (Mona) Gill. Click here to read the full article.

Tough Decisions

“As intensive care units and hospital resources approach capacity during the second wave of COVID-19, health authorities are triaging their emergency critical care plans to decide who gets priority if there’s a surge in cases. Ontario has unveiled an emergency plan that prioritizes patients based on a clinical, unbiased assessment of their chances of survival.”

Connecting Through Conversation

For many individuals, their goal is quality of life rather than medically extended longevity.  This is especially true for frail seniors.  Unfortunately, there can be a disconnect between what the senior desires, the actions taken and ultimately the healthcare provided.  As a means of addressing this disconnect, a new study is being conducted in Canada that aims to evaluate ways to improve care planning conversations.  As Dr. John You, project lead for the project states, “Advance care planning can have a significant impact on the patient experience and the family experience….They deserve to have their voices heard.”​  Click here to read more about this study.