I will begin by reflecting on what a gorgeous day it is and how lucky we and our families are to live in this amazing part of the world. If there is ever a time to take a deep breath and be grateful, it is now. I know our medical leadership teams are working at a mad pace and with the rate of change of information and direction, the ability to maintain flexibility and consistency is challenging.
In my role of Executive Medical Director (EMD) in Medical and Academic Affairs (MAA), I am reaching out to you to let you know one of our teams is working on an island-wide approach to collate information regarding Island Health medical staff and their potential ability to be re-deployed. I know a lot of fantastic work is happening across Island Health in local communities, as we prepare for potential severe over-census situations and possible reductions in medical staff numbers. MAA would like to help by creating an island-wide database of re-deployable medical staff to help fill gaps in coverage, should they begin to occur. We are hoping this database will be a useful resource to operational EMDs and Chiefs of Staff, should they have trouble staffing their facilities.
With this in mind, MAA is sending out a survey today to all medical staff to determine your capacity for re-deployment, and in what clinical areas.
I hope you understand the importance and utility of gathering this data to help prepare for our current situation, and that you view this database as a benefit to our medical community as a whole. We are all trying to help in any way that we can.
Cheers,
Michelle
Dr. Michelle Weizel
Executive Medical Director – Medical and Academic Affairs
Medical Director Geography 3 – Cowichan