By: Fannie Vavoulis, Director, Communications
On December 23 and 24, 2022, the municipality of Chatham-Kent and surrounding areas experienced one of the most frightening weather events in recent history. A snowstorm that brought gusting winds and whiteouts left hundreds of travellers and residents stranded on local highways. Many community members opened their homes to these travellers who were forced off the 401 and rural roads, and the local Wal-Mart in Chatham received national attention for housing stranded shoppers overnight. Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA), like many other essential healthcare services, faced challenges in getting staff and physicians safely to work without compromising any services. The following is a first-hand account from Fannie Vavoulis, Director of Communications at CKHA, of the incredible teamwork it took to ensure that the hospital's services remained open and available for the community.
“I had the privilege of being Admin On Call the week of the storm. While the news outlets were predicting a “big storm", there is always a part of me that wonders if the meteorologist is going to be right. In preparation for the storm, leadership at CKHA discussed internal accommodations and connected with local hotels to have them on standby. Communication was sent to CKHA management that accommodations would be available and to connect with staff if this was needed. And then, Friday, December 23 arrived. I started the day thinking it looked a little wintery outside and as I worked away at my desk, reminding myself that I still needed to get Christmas groceries, the weather started turning. Then my phone started ringing. And my email inbox started flowing. The storm had arrived, and I had no idea what was about to happen.
We provided accommodations to so many staff that I lost count throughout the day of requests. A huge thank you goes to the local hotels that answered our call and stepped up and gave us every hotel room available that night. That is… until their lobbies filled with stranded motorists from the 401 accidents and road closures. They helped accommodate us even though they had scared, lost and upset travelers in their lobby. One hotel employee told me they had stranded motorists sleeping in their lobby over night with babies crying – they had never experienced anything like this. I am forever grateful to the hotels for keeping our healthcare workers safe.
We had patients come to our Chatham Site emergency room who were in the 401 accident. Upon discharge, they had nowhere to go. They didn't have their cars to get them to a shelter. They had no family nearby to pick them up. With the quick thinking of ER staff and our After Hours Supervisor, the Rapid Assessment Zone area was turned into sleeping quarters for these patients and our housekeeping staff provided snacks and drinks to keep them comfortable until they could find a way home.
Highway 40, our main road to Wallaceburg, closed very early on during the blizzard. Our staff members at our Wallaceburg Site stayed on past their designated shifts to provide coverage for our patients during this time. On Saturday, roads were still closed and we needed staff from Chatham to go to the Wallaceburg Site to relieve others. With the road closure, we called our friends at Chatham-Kent Fire Department to provide transportation so our staff could continue to provide care to our patients and community. They answered our call and drove staff safely to the hospital.
On Christmas Eve, Fairfield Park Long Term Care Home provided daytime meals to our patients at our Wallaceburg Site since the food courier could not travel the closed highway and Black Goose restaurant provided dinner. Our community came together to ensure our patients remained fed and comfortable.
And speaking of food, with everything being closed on Christmas Eve and staff staying unexpectedly at hotels/friends' homes, we needed to ensure there was food available on site. In Chatham, the Subway located in our cafeteria baked as many foot longs as possible to ensure our staff would be fed during the day. In Wallaceburg, a local community member acted as our pizza delivery person and brought lots of pizzas to the site for staff to enjoy.
Many of our staff worked longer than usual shifts to help cover for their colleagues who couldn't make it in because of the roads. I spoke to several staff on the phone and via text who were grateful for the accommodations and fearful to drive home. There is a long list of people who stepped in to ensure the hospital continued to be a safe place for our patients, families and staff.
I have had the opportunity to be part of many proud moments in Chatham-Kent and at CKHA but this, THIS is by far is the most proud I have ever been to be part of a team that came together, supported their colleagues, and provided the most exceptional care all in what was one of the most frightening times our community has ever seen."