You may have seen stories in the media, or heard directly from a friend in healthcare. Today, it is my turn to share what is happening behind the doors of our hospitals. I know you’ll listen—like you, I am a friend of the Foundation and I value the central role our hospitals play in the overall well-being of our community.

In your hospitals, we aren’t where we were in the spring of 2020. For starters, we aren’t fighting against something we don’t know. Today, we know the illness—but we are just beginning the battle against its myriad impacts on our healthcare system.

Where uncertainty and caution were once our biggest factors in decision-making in the pandemic, today it is fatigue and scarcity. And demand. There is so much demand.

Demand is knowing loved ones in our community need healthcare–that’s what makes us keep going every day.

Demand is experiencing the greatest number of ICU patient transfers from COVID outbreak areas in the province.

Demand is seeing nurses—myself and my colleagues included—being constantly transferred from one area of the hospital to the next—wherever our hands and care are of most benefit.

All of this takes a toll. There isn’t one area of our hospital that is unaffected by the pandemic. Needs in every department have been amplified while resources have been diminished. It’s going to take all of us to recover and strengthen our hospitals as we continue to transition through the pandemic.

Fortunately for all of us, our hospitals have a solid foundation on which to draw strength: your support. When you provide the tools that allow our teams to do their work, you change what they can do. You change people’s lives. You make a greater impact than you can ever know.

We need your help to strengthen and protect the system that cares for each and every one of us. The Emerge Stronger campaign is your opportunity to create a legacy that readies our hospitals now—and well into the future—as they continue to face great stress. In order for Islanders to emerge stronger from this pandemic, we need supported caregivers and world-class hospitals. And, we absolutely need you.

Thank you,

Julia Cote, Registered Nurse and Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL),
Intensive Care Unit, Royal Jubilee Hospital