Faculty of Medicine COVID-19 Recognition Program

Stream 1: Exceptional achievements in productivity/operations

Objective: to recognize individuals and/or teams that produced significant results while facing roadblocks and unknowns.

These are shortened versions of the submissions.

Dr. Jennifer Hughes-Large, Family Medicine Resident, Bruyère Family Medicine Centre

Dr. Jennifer Hughes-Large was the first family medicine trainee from the Bruyère Family Health Team selected for redeployment during the COVID-19 pandemic. In her new substantive position with the Incident Management System of Bruyère Continuing Care, she led the collection of information on international experience and guidance that enabled the organization to effectively respond to the COVID-19 emergency.

Within the first 72 hours, Dr. Hughes-Large provided briefings to the executive that resulted in operational changes that almost certainly saved lives. For example, based on her literature review of what was unfolding in China, she was the first to advocate for the creation of negative pressure wards that would allow us to group patients should they become positive. This prepared us for our first of several COVID-19 outbreaks and allowed us to safely separate patients away from the remainder of our high-risk, elderly population. She prepared numerous other reports that have been used within our organization and disseminated to international partners.

What she has done for our organization is particularly unique in that this function never existed before. To be successful, she had to rapidly develop an understanding of the nature of the COVID-19 threat, our organization’s exposure, and a methodology that could be quickly and effectively implemented. In doing this so effectively, Dr. Hughes-Large has played a very significant role in Bruyère's response to the pandemic and is a credit to the Faculty of Medicine.

Dr. Louise Sun, Associate professor, Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine; School of Epidemiology and Public Health

Cardiac anesthesiologist, University of Ottawa Heart Institute; Adjunct scientist, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences; Director, Cardiocore Big Data Research Unit and Team Soleil, UOHI

Cardiac Surgery entered the COVID-19 pandemic with 350 patients on the open-heart waitlist. We could not afford to stop operating despite COVID, as some cardiac patients would undoubtedly die as a result. We needed a way to predict capacity in the ICU—not a mortality risk score, but rather an objective length-of-stay score for each patient. Such a score did not exist, and Dr. Sun has single-handedly developed this score, which has since been used—and is still used today—by every member of our cardiac surgery planning team. This score has allowed our cardiac surgery division to have the largest surgical activity in Ontario, and possibly nationally, during the pandemic, while never losing extra ICU capacity should a surge of COVID-19 cases requiring cardiac ICU care occur. The results of the predictor have been in the press and our centre's resilience and ability to manage during the pandemic are well known across the country.

The Undergraduate Medical Education team

The UGME team expended tremendous effort, working around the clock to continue all operations to support the MD Program remotely during COVID-19. Given that in order to ensure on-time graduation the MD program cannot be paused, UGME had one week to transfer all learning into a virtual delivery system while adapting to working from home. This team led medical schools across Canada in the delivery of synchronous and asynchronous teaching and was the only team to provide a fully adapted MD program in both official languages, with no pause in student learning.

This team overcame many challenges, including:

• immediately implementing all logistics to support the weekly decisions about curriculum delivery made by the Undergraduate COVID-19 Contingency Planning Committee
• adapting to new technology in a matter of days
• spending an unforeseen amount of time migrating the varied teaching methods to virtual learning methods—for example, a total of 200 pre-clerkship sessions were converted to online platforms
• preparing for online exam delivery in both languages, overcoming many technological challenges in collaboration with MedTech
• dividing clerkship into Phase 1—a new online component of clinical learning with new sessions on telemedicine and COVID-19, and Phase 2—clinical learning in the health care setting
• distributing PPE kits to 115 students doing community clinical placements for the return to clinical activity on July 6
• working with Central on a creation of a virtual graduation ceremony, which was a success

We are very proud to have such a dedicated, resilient and adaptable team, whose ability to continue to deliver a program which cannot be paused and for which the delivery resides in the environment in which our patients with COVID- 19 are treated is a source of pride nationally.

The building operations teams, which includes the following teams who helped to maintain safe and effective operations across the Faculty:

• The Procurement and Logistics team (MedPurch)
• The Health, Safety and Risk Management Office (MedSafety)
• The Facility Management Office (MedFaci)
• Dr. Laura Trinkle-Mulcahy and the Common Equipment and Technical Services core facility’s Technical Support Team

The Procurement and Logistics team (MedPurch)

In early February, the MedPurch team did more than watch the escalating COVID-19 crisis around the world; they sprang into action. With disruption to the supply chains for research materials and products, borders closing and manufacturing shutting down, many of the essential supplies researchers need, including basic biosafety materials, were in precarious supply. The MedPurch team immediately assessed which critical items were most at risk for being disrupted, acquired alternative suppliers and built new supply chains. This was a Herculean effort, even requiring the reconfiguration of space to store three or four months’ worth of items instead of the normal two-week supply.

They also acquired the vast quantities of personal protective equipment (PPE) and cleaning supplies to allow for the safe return of faculty and staff to Faculty buildings and to provide to medical students who were starting their rotations. This was a substantial challenge given the demand for these supplies across Canada, yet due to MedPurch’s swift action, the Faculty of Medicine was the first uOttawa faculty to secure orders of PPE. MedPurch also shared its PPE sourcing research with the University to assist other units.

While most staff members were working from home, the MedPurch team stayed on-site to ensure that COVID-19 research teams had timely access to all supplies. Anne-Marie Maheu and Eric Prendergast developed safety protocols to ensure that not only were their team members and those picking up items from MedPurch safe, but that their team felt supported and comfortable while working on-site.

A special thank you goes to three students who gave their time to help MedPurch: Axel Materanya, Graciella Martinez and Kenza Benzekri. They contributed to the smooth operations and supported MedPurch staff who were facing new challenges in the face of COVID-19.

In addition to team nominations for MedPurch, Anne-Marie Maheu and Eric Prendergast received individual nominations for their exceptional leadership and customer service.

Without the dedication and the adaptability of the MedPurch team, we would have all been home much longer instead of being back at the bench.

The Health, Safety and Risk Management Office (MedSafety)

The Faculty’s Health, Safety and Risk Management (HSRM) team has been involved in nearly every aspect of the Faculty COVID-19 response. Here are just a few critical jobs that HSRM has led to allow for the successful implementation of the FoM’s Return to Research (R2R) plan:

• At the core of the R2R plan was the strict monitoring of daily occupancy numbers to prove to uOttawa that during Phase 1, occupancy was below 33%. This was critical in order for us to move to Phase 1.5 and increase research intensity. Charles and Chantel had to quickly figure out a way to extract information about who was on site at which times from 30-plus-page reports, build searchable databases to cross-reference cards with names and labs, and generate reports. For the first weeks of the pandemic, this was nearly a full-time job. They were instrumental in setting up protocols for the welcome desk, which they staffed for many weeks. Without their dedication in solving this hurdle, we couldn’t have moved to 66% occupancy as quickly as we did.
• They performed daily monitoring of the COVID-19 compliance of protocols—including face-mask wearing, physical distancing and lab occupancy.
• Charles converted the Laboratory Safety course to an online course—not a quick task—allowing the FoM to “onboard” new staff, graduate students and undergraduates.

Though I can only highlight a few things the HSRM team has done, I cannot emphasis enough that without their dedication and hard work, R2R would not have been the success that it is.

Dr. Laura Trinkle-Mulcahy, Director of the Common Equipment and Technical Services core facility and the Technical Support Team

When Ontario declared its COVID-19 state of emergency in March, it did not mean that the doors were locked and all research at RGN stopped. In addition to the many COVID-19 projects, many research teams were permitted to stay on-site to complete time-sensitive research. As such, the Faculty needed to keep essential services such as autoclaving, glass washing and common equipment running.

Dr. Trinkle-Mulcahy and the Technical Support Team (TST) remained on-site to support the researchers. She and the team established safety protocols so they could continue providing essential research services; they devised a schedule to decrease the time each team member was on-site and ensured they were working in distinct areas of the building; they found temporary office space to allow for physical separation; and they found new space for common equipment to ensure physical distancing among researchers. The TST was indispensable for establishing decontamination protocols for common equipment and were the frontline response team when equipment failed. Further, many a CTE and -80 freezer failed during Ottawa’s record-breaking heatwave summer. Without their selflessness and commitment, research could not have continued or nor ramped up smoothly in June. The TST team truly are RGN’s unsung “essential workers”! They also enthusiastically volunteered to aid in the collection of personal protective equipment donated by labs to support frontline workers. Working in collaboration with Gillian Lord, Dr. Trinkle-Mulcahy and the TST team worked tirelessly to get these critical supplies to the health care workers who need them most.

Dr. Laura Trinkle-Mulcahy and Charles Mulcahy

In addition to their efforts described above, Dr. Trinkle-Mulcahy and Charles Mulcahy went even further to make the shutdown of research operations and the Return to Research as painless as possible for faculty members. Charles even cleaned and defrosted shared and personal fridges to ensure that there would be no nasty surprises upon our return.

Over the summer, three of our graduate programs underwent an evaluation by external reviewers for the purpose of cyclical review, which can be viewed as program accreditation. Critical to the review is a visit of the laboratory and student spaces to ensure that the environment supports student success. This year, the reviews were conducted virtually. Dr. Trinkle-Mulcahy and Charles volunteered to take videos of these spaces, without which the accreditation would have been incomplete, and the programs powerless to meet this important review criteria.

Their contributions were essential for the vitality of our educational programs and were a service beyond what would be expected from their roles. Dr. Trinkle-Mulcahy and Charles’s hard work has positively impacted the Faculty’s research, administration and teaching mandates.

The Facility Management Office (MedFaci)

Overnight, Marie-France, Nicolas and Sam went from dealing with electrical issues, floods and renovations to implementing physical safety measures to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. They established traffic flow, one-way staircases, and safe occupancy limits for Roger Guindon Hall (RGN) and the Peter Morand Crescent (PMC) buildings.

You can thank MedFaci for advocating for increased cleaning on-site to ensure that we are working in a cleaner environment to reduce the risk of COVID-19, as well as for Plexiglas shields in contact service points and between core equipment.

They even organized flushing out of the pipes at RGN and PMC prior to the return of staff to ensure all the stagnant water was removed and the water was safe to drink.

Along with the Health, Safety and Risk Management team, they also went through RGN to identify common areas such as kitchens and seating areas to map safe and physically distanced, but not socially distant, seating.

Most of us have likely not thought twice about what has gone into making the RGN and PMC buildings safe as possible for our return in the COVID-19 era. That is okay—because Marie-France, Nicolas and Sam have done all the thinking for us

Stream 2: Outstanding humanitarian efforts

Objective: to recognize the competencies most valued during a crisis, such as commitment, resiliency, compassion, integrity and resolve; to honour individuals and/or teams who have positively impacted the lives of their co-workers during the isolation period of COVID-19.

These are shortened versions of the submissions.

Farhan Mahmood, Medical Student

Recognizing the serious issue of dwindling supplies of N95 masks at the beginning of the pandemic, Mr. Mahmood co-founded an initiative to produce mock N95 masks for the uOttawa Skills and Simulation Centre (UOSSC). These were used for training purposes in order to reserve the real N95 masks for his fellow health care providers (HCPs), mentors and colleagues providing frontline care. Despite having to balance a heavy academic workload and adjust to the sudden and difficult changes to medical education during COVID-19, Farhan demonstrated resilience, dedication, effective communication and leadership by recruiting and leading a team of volunteers to construct 528 mock masks.

Furthermore, upon recognizing the strenuous demands on those on the front lines, Farhan co-launched and serves as a marketing and communications officer for an online platform aiming to improve the mental health and well-being of HCPs using art. This platform, Creating Through COVID (creatingthroughcovid.org), allows HCPs, including medical students, to share their creations as well as their experiences, to connect with one another, and to maintain their mental health through the power of art in its various forms. University of Ottawa faculty and students have contributed and benefited from this initiative, which owes a large part of its success to Mr. Mahmood’s creativity and resolve.

Through the Medical Students for HCPs during COVID-19 Program, Fahran volunteered to be paired with HCPs needing assistance with daily tasks such as running errands and providing childcare given the increased demands placed upon them.

Additionally, Farhan showcased integrity and health advocacy by helping the Black Medical Students’ Association write and disseminate a message to uOttawa’s student body regarding maintaining safety during Black Lives Matter protests, highlighting public health recommendations.

It is clear that Farhan is an exceptional medical student who has consistently shown phenomenal humanitarian efforts throughout the pandemic.

Medical student personal protective equipment sourcing team, led by Kameela Alibhai, Cristina Andronic, Ethan Lin and Jonathan Whelan

The early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic were bleak. National, provincial and local stockpiles of personal protective equipment (PPE) and test kits were well below surge levels. The only rays of hope were the small inventories of PPE and test kits scattered among scores of local private clinics, dental offices, community health centres and non-medical industry.

The uOttawa student team coalesced around Ms. Alibhai, Ms. Andronic, Mr. Lin and Mr. Whelan. They worked tirelessly for weeks, driving as far as the St. Lawrence Seaway to pick up donations of PPE and test kits and delivering them to local hospitals and to the Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratory Association. These medical students were critical in keeping local emergency departments and COVID-19 assessment centres operating, and by extension, in identifying outbreaks and saving lives.

They collected over 218,000 PPE items including gloves, goggles and various types of masks, among other items. They secured a donation of 980 kilograms of clear plastic film that helped produce 100,000 face shields, and they collected 284 litres of hand sanitizer and 35.8 litres of disinfectant solution.

Furthermore, along with Conquer COVID-19, they participated in the regional distribution of PPE on April 19 to family physicians and helped organize three collection drives alongside the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), Conquer COVID-19 and St. John's Ambulance. These drives collected 8,800 gloves, 145 litres of hand sanitizer, 53,080 surgical masks, 7,300 procedural masks, 132 N95 masks, and a range of personal care items including 32,800 baby wipes, 12,000 diapers, 112 kilograms of formula, 3,000 tampons, and 1,400 liners.

There are no words to express my gratitude to them. They are true leaders and humanitarians. I cannot praise their efforts enough, and feel they have well-earned any and all accolades that can be directed at them.

Ride to Connect Team: Nathan Chiarlitti, Brendan Cotter, Mitchell Crozier, Sonia Dancey, Francesco Fazzari, Raphael Lessard, Adriano Petrangelo, Simon Pupulin, Karine Riad, Joelle Soriano and Amy Yu

The Ride to Connect (RTC) is a campaign started by 11 uOttawa MD students to raise funds for and awareness of social isolation and loneliness in Canada’s senior population during the COVID-19 pandemic. They partnered with Connected Canadians and HelpAge Canada to purchase smart tablets for seniors in long-term care homes through the Seniors Can Connect! program. This program ensures that the tablets have accessibility features and provides IT services and training to the seniors.

In two and half months, the RTC team:

• raised over $51,000
• grew their social media communities to 1,600 individuals
• developed a cycling club of 400+ riders from coast to coast who have cycled a cumulative 185,555 kilometres, surpassing their goal of 100,000 kilometres over the summer.

They have also launched additional fundraising strategies, consulted with MPPs to work to enact greater systemic changes to infrastructure in long-term care homes, been featured on many news outlets, and launched a national campaign video.

Going forward, the team plans to maintain an educational platform about the cause, and to come out stronger next summer, having already expanded to include teams at the Queen’s, McGill, and Western medical schools. They will also continue to develop infrastructure required to initiate their own research on the psychosocial impact of a tablet-based program for Canadian seniors in group residences.

None of this could have been accomplished without the dedication and passion of each team member.

Health care provider outreach team: Heidi Li and Simran Aggarwal, medical students

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the closure of schools, new and changingpolicies, and a drastic change in their work environments, health care providers (HCPs) found themselves inundated with work–life demands. Wellness is already a thin line walked by HCPs; the pandemic threatened to tip the balance towards the negative. A team of uOttawa medical students led an initiative to support these individuals. Specifically, Ottawa Students for HCPs assisted local HCPs with life tasks such as childcare, pet care and grocery runs. The goals of the initiative were two-fold and rooted in a commitment to physician wellness: 1) assist physicians in navigating increased work–life demands, and 2) spread compassion and positivity in a time rife with anxiety and fear.

Working night and day, within a week the team rallied medical students, set up a system via which physicians could sign up for and receive support, and created guidelines to ensure that both parties would be as safe as possible. We collaborated with medical schools across Canada and in Australia as well as with other professional student associations. Over 170 HCPs from various specialties (e.g., physicians, nurses and paramedics) signed up and we received many heart-warming messages such as “seeing efforts like this restores my faith in humanity.”

In addition, the summer found many camps and children’s activities unable to resume. To help HCPs lead summer activities at home, we distributed over $400 in gift cards for use at children’s art and reading stores and local stores to help Ottawa’s small businesses. A happy family is essential to wellness and our goal was to spread joy within the HCP family.

Monarch C19 Clinic: Dr. Tiffany Chow, Dr. Vanessa Murley, Dr. Jessica Strike and Dr. Gail Webber

The Monarch C19 Clinic was started in April 2020 to provide care to mothers diagnosed with or suspected to have COVID-19 as well as to their newborns. Given the infection risks, these individuals were unable to seek their usual post-discharge care. From the clinic’s inception, this team of physicians made up its core staff, providing high-quality, compassionate care and helping to fine tune the clinic’s functioning, all the while covering their in-hospital duties while on call. The families they have seen have been so grateful for the kind, compassionate and supportive care. The Ottawa Hospital and the Department of Family Medicine are privileged to count Drs. Chow, Murley, Strike and Webber in their membership and this team is very deserving of special COVID-19 recognition!

Stream 1: Exceptional achievements in productivity/operations

Objective: to recognize individuals and/or teams that produced significant results while facing roadblocks and unknowns.

These are shortened versions of the submissions, in the language of submission.

Dr. Alexandra Bunting, Chief Resident, Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Surgery

Dr. Bunting has taken on the challenges with personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies in the hospital with great enthusiasm. Using 3D printing resources and help from her colleagues (Dr. Andrew Adamczyk and Dr. Marie-Claude Magnan), she created reusable face shields for most residents and staff surgeons at The Ottawa Hospital. These face shields have been approved by Health Canada.

Dr. Bunting also modified and organized orthopaedic surgery teaching and rounds into virtual sessions so that trainees could continue their education. This work included revamping the summer anatomy cadaver lab so it could still happen for both plastic surgery and orthopaedic surgery residents.

She also collaborated with other surgical chiefs,the  Department of Surgery, and PARO to get pay for residents who were participating in evening and weekend Operating Rooms due to COVID backlogs. While this process took a few weeks, this is far shorter than the typical months it has taken others.

Overall, instead of complaining about something that is broken as most of us do, she has fixed issues and shared this solution with fellow residents and staff.

Dr. Sarah Funnell, Associate Medical Officer of Health, Ottawa Public Health

Dr. Austin Zygmunt, Resident, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Epidemiology and Public Health

In March 2020, despite the fact that the team at Ottawa Public Health had already been working around the clock in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Drs. Funnell and Zygmunt provided us – two incoming public health and preventive medicine resident physicians invaluable mentorship and supervision. We felt incredibly welcomed and supported as part of the team.

Being warmly included allowed for us to gain first-hand experience in emergency response and incident management, technical guidance and information management, and communicable disease tracing and surveillance during a global pandemic. Opportunities to be part of public health emergencies such as this one are unique and valuable learning experiences.

We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to learn from Dr. Zygmunt, Dr. Funnell, and the whole Public Health Medicine Unit (PHMU) team at Ottawa Public Health. We extend our nomination and acknowledgement to our resident physician colleagues in the public health and preventive medicine program at the University of Ottawa, for their unique and necessary contributions to the public health response in Ottawa and surrounding regions.

Dr. Ken Farion, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine

As a member of CHEO’s executive leadership team, starting in January 2020 Dr. Farion organized and led CHEO’s COVID planning preparedness planning. His knowledge, skills and operational capabilities were quickly recognized by the regional response team and he soon became the regional operational co-lead. He has also been a leader in bringing together multiple community partners to expand testing and assessment services for vulnerable and underserved communities including the development of interdisciplinary and interagency mobile teams. Through this work, he has advanced our capability to detect and prevent cases of COVID-19 in the region.

Dr. Farion has repeatedly demonstrated an outstanding ability to overcome significant hurdles in a very short period of time, with the utmost professionalism and compassion. His leadership stands out as exceptional in regards to the breadth of what he has been able to facilitate and the remarkable proficiency and benevolence with which he has done so.

Translation and Revision Office: Romina Cousineau, Tanya Simard and Martine Trudeau

Martine, Tanya and Romina worked around the clock to meet the tremendous demands of translation with short timelines for countless documents during COVID-19, including:  

• Communications to be distributed to students the day following weekly Undergraduate COVID-19 Contingency Planning Committee (UCCPC) meetings, as well as communications to faculty and for the web
• Many FAQs and new policies needed to be communicated in very short timeline.
• Significant changes in the curriculum in both preclerkship and clerkship for it to be offered virtually. For example, a significant amount of new material had to be created for the 8 rotations in clerkship during phase 1.

I also wish to highlight this trio’s resiliency during this very stressful time. Not only did they shorten their vacations due to high demands, but they were and are always very professional and cordial even when being bombarded with requests. Extreme pressure has been put on that team but they never gave up.

Dr. Scott Laing, Resident, Clinician Scholar Program, Department of Family Medicine

Dr. Laing’s skill and dedication enabled our primary care team of almost 50 family physicians, allied health care providers and administrators to efficiently and effectively adapt our care to virtual visits.

Dr. Laing had launched his research project the day our clinics closed to all but urgent in-person care. He had spent one year building a tool for our electronic medical record (EMR) system that would automatically populate a stamp with a patient’s most up to date evidence-based preventive health care services covering ten potential manoeuvres. Within the first 48 hours of our pivot to virtual care, Dr. Laing had coded a new stamp for our EMR to help each provider capture crucial new elements for virtual care.

This tool saves Bruyère’s primary care team time and ensures that we perform our duty of informing patients about this new approach to care. It also enables us to bill appropriately for services. There has been external interest in using this tool as well as, and Dr. Laing has offered it for free to interested health care providers. The Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario has published the tool on their website and many clinics have been using it in daily practice.

Dr. Laing is a young leader who is passionate about improving operational efficiency. It is especially remarkable that he developed the virtual consent tool of his own initiative and has offered it for free to all who might benefit.

Dr. Sandy Tse, Assistant Professor, Departments of Pediatrics; Medicine

Associate Medical Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine; Competency Based Medical Education Lead,  Pediatrics; Investigator, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency departments (EDs) around the world experienced a significant decrease in patients seeking emergency care, with the greatest decline in visits for women and children. Globally, delayed presentations of acute illness to pediatric EDs were reported with associated increases in morbidity. Widespread shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) required organizations to seek novel solutions for conservation. These challenges inspired our team, led by Sandy, to develop and evaluate the first Virtual Pediatric ED (V-PED) in Canada. We adapted a secure encrypted video platform used for ambulatory clinic visits to create V-PED.

Since its launch on May 4^th, over 1000 children were treated via V-PED. An online checklist completed by the child’s caregiver determines whether V-PED is appropriate or whether the child should be directed to present for an in-person ED visit.

Caregivers have reported high satisfaction with V-PED and many families requested that V-PED continue post-COVID. Using a 0-10 scale, overall satisfaction was rated as excellent in 86.9% of respondents, with none reporting their satisfaction lower than 7. 

In conclusion, Dr. Tse helped to lead Canada's first virtual pediatric virtual care for emergency visits, a novel idea that is now being adapted across the country.

Dr. Catherine Brown and Dr. Jennifer LeMessurier, Residents, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Epidemiology and Public Health

As senior residents in Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Dr. Catherine Brown and Dr. Jennifer LeMessurier worked hard to lead case and contact management operations at Ottawa Public Health during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. They put in exceptionally long hours while collaborating with nurses, nurse practitioners and health inspectors to care for the people of Ottawa. They developed tools to track consultations and improve communications between teams, developed outbreak definitions, rapidly adopted new technology and advocated for vulnerable populations. Their work had an impact on every aspect of the physician consultation service. Despite the heavy work load, they both took the time to welcome and orient me as I returned from maternity leave. They both took the time to reach out and make sure I was coping well to the high stress environment of a pandemic response.

Dr. Austin Zygmunt, Resident, Public Health and Preventive Medicine Resident, School of Epidemiology and Public Health

As a senior Public Health and Preventive Medicine Resident, Dr. Zygmunt was completing his leadership and management rotation at Ottawa Pubic Health during the peak of the pandemic. He coordinated the physician teams to respond to unprecedented demands. He advocated for, hired and oriented additional staff to support our teams, advocated for new technological solutions, and restructured the workflow to meet ever increasing demands. All the while he was supportive and available to his co-residents and medical students.

Dr. Yipeng Ge and Dr. Tavis Hayes, medical students (now residents), Public Health and Preventive Medicine Resident, School of Epidemiology and Public Health

Dr. Ge and Dr. Hayes are 4th year medical students who had matched to our Public Health and Preventive Medicine residency program when their final year clinical rotations were disrupted by the pandemic. Although not yet residents, they stepped up and worked as research assistants within the pandemic response at Ottawa Public Health. They quickly became essential members of the team. When I arrived at OPH, they oriented me to the teams, workflow and tools (many of which they had developed). They reported to me on the technical team, producing technical documents, website updates and reports at a dizzying speed. Their work was always exceptional and they were always available and open to feedback. They made a huge contribution to the pandemic response within Ottawa Public Health.

The Research Office Team, Faculty of Medicine

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the integral role of the Research Office in operational planning and oversight moved to center-stage. To highlight a few examples of the team’s outstanding work, they:

• operationalized a safe ramp-down of research activity for more than 90 research teams;
• developed the COVID-19 Alliance to ensure operational alignment with affiliated hospitals and research institutes;
• established a Research Derogation process to support ongoing COVID-19 research projects, including baseline operational support for these teams;
• developed Return to Research Planning Committees soliciting input from both Faculty and administrative units;
• orchestrated a progressive and safe return to research for all Faculty research teams
• developed detailed FAQ to support faculty, learners and staff as they return to onsite research.
• were the first team to submit return to research guidelines to the University, which were praised for being ‘clear and cautious without placing undue burden on investigators’ and paved the way for other faculties who built upon the thorough and thoughtful policies.
• following the launch of Phase 1 R2R, took an active role in monitoring the progress of our onsite researchers, demonstrating >90% compliance and paving the way to secure University approval for Phase 1.5 and 2 reopening plans.
• worked behind the scenes to respond to thousands of emails, track hundreds of individual entry cards, and liaise with units across the University and Institutes to ensure the continued growth and success of our outstanding research teams.

Without a doubt, they have performed above and beyond all expectations in response to this unprecedented situation and are well-deserving of this important recognition.

Ottawa Public Health PHPM residents: Dr. Natalia Abraham, Dr. Catherine Brown, Dr. Sarah Erdman, Dr. Yipeng Ge, Dr. Tavis Hayes, Dr. Jennifer LeMessurier, Dr. Dolly Menghan Lin, Dr. Tiffany Locke, Dr. Reed Morrison, Dr. Muhammad Mukarram, Dr. Daniel Myran, Dr. Ellen Claire Rowlands Snyder, Dr. Manu Saraswat, Dr. Nour Shehata, Dr. Jamal Yazdi and Dr. Austin Zygmunt

At Ottawa Public Health (OPH), the Public Health and Preventive Medicine (PHPM) residents have been critical in leading the case and outbreak management team. Residents have:

• created the first line list of cases in Ottawa which led to improved communication and was the main data source for the epidemiology team’s daily reports
• played leadership roles during the numerous institutional outbreaks and community clusters
• developed outbreak definitions used in acute care facilities
• drafted the strategy to guide the regional response in mass surveillance testing of Long-Term Care (LTC) homes
• collaborated with internal and external stakeholders to prepare responses to over 500 individual technical consultations
• create over 50 documents for the public (e.g. public website content, community handouts, etc.), and summarized Ministry of Health guidance on case and contact management.
• been instrumental in OPH’s engagement with physicians and other health care professional during the pandemic.
• written most public health alerts sent to physicians in Ottawa
• provided webinars through the University of Ottawa Office of Continuing Professional Development
• developed an online case management tool
• supported the COVID-19 Ottawa Database (COD) digital solutions team in developing outbreak detection functionality
• assisted in the response to COVID-19 within other rotation sites including the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Public Health Ontario

Recognizing that the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affects certain populations due to underlying health and social disparities, PHPM residents were dedicated to addressing the needs of priority populations, for example, by developing a COVID-19 process map for managing cases within the Ottawa shelter system and contributing to an urban Indigenous specific pandemic response plan.

Every resident in our program has gone above and beyond both in terms of supporting and even leading COVID-19 response operations and in supporting each other through unprecedented personal and professional strain. I cannot think of a more deserving group of learners.

The Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) team

The PGME team went above and beyond during the pandemic to carry out the registration of +/-1,200 trainees prior to commencing their training on July 1. Many team members even worked on Canada Day and the two free days that uO employees enjoyed.

It wasn’t without a great sense of teamwork, comradery and pride that we could have addressed the following challenges, among others, in addition to our regular tasks:

• Due to border closures, 18 foreign trainees returned home prior to completing their training, 26 could not enter Canada, and 22 cancelled
• Technical difficulties with our systems/security resulted in an emergency to lift VPN so that PAs (130) and PDs (100) could access information to track mandatory requirements
• Full-day orientation sessions and the PA awards ceremony were adapted to online platforms instead of in-person

• 250 Fleece jackets and BBQ coupons were provided via alternate methods, as were certificates provided to the 375 trainees completing their training

• Negotiated change to PARO/CAHO contract to allow residents to submit call stipend claims late.
• Residents who normally take a spring or summer vacation but were unable to (due to extra shifts, etc.) were given the opportunity to be paid out for vacation days, resulting in additional administrative tasks for PGME
• Due to travel restrictions, 167 electives were cancelled between April and June.

• An inspection was completed under the International Mobility Program to verify uOttawa’s compliance with the conditions imposed under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), specifically as they relate to the Emergencies Act and/or the Quarantine Act

• N95 mask fitting scheduling for +/-300 new trainees
• Tracked 50 residents who were redeployed to other departments (to assist with the front line care).
• 8 accreditation reviews were cancelled during April – June, resuming in an online / virtual format in September.
• CaRMS – major revamp to the entire process.

This illustrates the volume of extra work taken on by the PGME team, who managed their workload in an exceptional manner during an already challenging time in the academic year.

Dr. Roderick Macphee, Dr. Anthea Paul and Dr. Mark Woo, Family Medicine residents, Bruyère Continuing Care

In early April, Bruyère Continuing Care identified its first positive case of COVID-19 in a long-term care (LTC) centre. With a shell of a contact tracing team in place and an awareness of the vulnerability of the patients, a call was put out for assistance from uOttawa medical residents at Bruyère’s Family Health Team for help with contact tracing. Drs. Woo, Macphee and Paul answered the call and went above and beyond to make Bruyère’s contact tracing team a success.

Within the first week, Drs. Woo and Macphee developed a sophisticated visual mind map that allowed the team to chart positive cases of COVID within the hospital and LTC homes and to identify staff or patients who may have been exposed. Their innovative approach to data collection and visualization, along with their astute medical training, set the foundation for an extremely responsive and interactive COVID tracing tool that was developed and improved upon throughout the outbreaks in the LTC homes. Their expertise and data visualizations were used by senior leaders in Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) and Occupational Health to make critical decisions, and were reported on to Senior Leadership at Bruyère on multiple occasions.

In tandem, Dr. Paul led a team of nine contact tracers, made up of Bruyère Research Institute researchers, uOttawa medical students and other medical residents, in conducting hundreds of calls to staff who may have been exposed to colleagues and patients who tested positive for COVID-1p. Dr. Paul’s leadership qualities and drive for excellence elevated the team. Combined with the data tracking and visualizations that Dr. Woo and Dr. Macphee were managing, the contact tracing team identified multiple staff who did not know they had been exposed to a COVID-19 positive patient or who were asymptomatic. This prevented further possible transmission of COVID to other patients or staff.

These efforts played a critical role in helping to contain the spread of COVID-19 at Bruyère, and will continue to be used to respond to any future outbreaks that occur.

Nina Lebel, Supervisor of Academic Services in Pre-Clerkship, Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME) office

Nina showed tremendous effort, dedication and ability to continue to support all operations in pre-clerkship during COVID-19.

On March 16, all clinical activities and in-person teaching were cancelled. Since the MD Program cannot be paused, the pre-clerkship team had one week to transfer all learning into a virtual delivery system. Nina worked with her team to implement all logistics following decisions made by the Undergraduate COVID-19 Contingency Planning Committee, which met on a weekly basis. There were many challenges along the way, including adapting to virtual tools for the sessions and exams. Different sessions, such as CBL, CMP, and lectures, required different set-up in Teams. Nina experimented and tested these with her team. We had 44 CBL sessions and a total of 200 lectures, labs, tutorials, integrative lectures, etc. that all had to be converted online. We had to implement Questionmark for mid- term and final exams and Nina worked closely with the Evaluation Director and Medtech and received praised for her involvement and contribution.

These major changes required a tremendous number of extra hours for Nina and her team. Nina was a pillar of support during this stressful and discouraging time, including for the 5 employees on the pre-clerkship team who had started between May and July (out of a team of 8). Every day, Nina attended numerous meetings and worked many extra hours. Working closely with over 30 UGME leaders at the start of the pandemic was especially challenging as, things were evolving constantly. UGME leaders have tremendous confidence in Nina and rely on her expertise and problem-solving.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the stress level of the 330 pre-clerkship students was significantly increased. Nina worked closely with class presidents to keep them informed. She took the initiative to select and train students to lead CBL sessions to support faculty members and ensure everything ran smoothly.

Nina certainly deserves to be recognized for all of her achievements during COVID-19 and being a big part of the success of moving to online delivery of the MD Program.

Dre Michelle Anawati, Département de médecine, Directrice de l’externat au volet francophone de l’Université

Dès le début du confinement, Dre Anawati, a pris les dispositions nécessaires pour adapter rapidement l’externat dans le contexte de la COVID-19 en mettant en place la Phase 1 de ce changement profond, et ce, tout en respectant les délais impartis par le programme ainsi que la sécurité des apprenants et des patients. Cette Phase 1 consistait en un remodelage exhaustif de l’horaire pour les étudiants retirés de leurs stages en raison de la pandémie, leur permettant de compléter leurs cours obligatoires à distance, et ce, à raison de trois heures par jour. Cette façon de faire leurs permettrait ainsi d’être prêts à revenir dans les hôpitaux pour compléter leur stage en juillet, tout en respectant les dates butoirs de CARMS et en gardant bien vivant leur sentiment d’engagement envers leurs études.

Le changement rapide vers une classe virtuelle a nécessité l’utilisation de nouveaux outils technologiques et une adaptation des techniques pédagogiques avec, par exemple, l’addition de simulations et de divers cas. En particulier, de modules traitant de la téléconsultation ont dû être ajoutés au programme. Il a aussi été indispensable de modifier les évaluations en se fondant sur une formation mieux ancrée dans l’apprentissage continu et non pas sur une note prédisant la réussite ou l’échec. Ceci ne représentet que quelques-uns des défis rencontrés par Michelle lors de l’élaboration de cette planification.

Dans le but de concrétiser ce programme d’envergure en un temps record, Michelle s’est alliée au volet anglophone avec qui elle a établi une belle collaboration basée sur un travail d’équipe solide. Elle a mis une énergie incroyable dans la réalisation de ce projet, et ce, tout en gardant constamment le bien des étudiants au cœur de ses décisions. C’est donc grâce à son leadership et à sa grande volonté d’agir qu’un retour aussi rapide des étudiants de 3e année au sein des hôpitaux a été rendu possible et leur a permis de n’accumuler aucun retard dans le cursus, n’hypothéquant pas leur chance de poursuivre le programme.

Pour toutes les raisons énumérées, la Dre Michelle Anawati mérite d’être reconnue pour ces efforts dans le cadre du Programme de reconnaissance des efforts déployés durant la COVID-19 de la Faculté de médecine.

Dr. Michel Laflèche, Family Medicine, Emergency Department

Dr. Laflèche is an Emergency Department (ED) physician who stepped up to lead during the pandemic. He came to every meeting, organized one-on-one meetings with physicians and nurses to keep them informed of developments, and worked very closely with Dr. Lizotte, our intensive care unit chief, to establish policies and procedures as rapidly as possible. Dr. Laflèche contacted neighboring hospitals and colleagues in other jurisdictions, including in other provinces, to ensure that we had the most up to date information possible. He became my right hand for the past several months, always with a positive attitude. He even volunteered to work in a COVID unit at another hospital to bring back expertise. He worked with our ED manager to tarp off different zones in the unit for red/green/yellow. He wrote up posters/flow diagrams for the docs and arranged simulations for protected code blues and intubations. Most importantly we worked with our ambulatory care director to bring in respiratory therapists temporarily for the pandemic. With her they came up with medical directives, policies, protocols, and even developed a RACE team. As a result of all this rich learner he has now accepted to become the next chief of the emergency department and I am very pleased to have him on my team!

MedTech – Information Management Services

We often overlook the grassroots teams that continue to produce an exceptional service on a daily basis. MedTech, led by Lyne Charlebois, is one of these teams, having been quick to provide all the tools for staff to work from home and provided academics and students with virtual classrooms within a very short timeline. The IT demands reached new heights during the pandemic, and these were met thanks to the impressive efforts of MedTech. 

PPE for HCPs: Maryam Bezzahou, Philip Chkipov, Mehr Jain, Sakib Kazi, Jesse Li, Anahita Malvea, Adam Merlo, Maria Merlano, Gabriela O’Brien, Kelsie Ou, Shankar Sethuraman and Isabel Shamsudeen – Medical students

This group of uOttawa medical students recognized the personal protective equipment (PPE) shortage early during the pandemic and was determined to help. They started an initiative, PPE for HCPs, to raise money for purchasing PPE for frontline health care professionals. This endeavour did not come without its challenges, including establishing how they would raise money, finding and purchasing certified PPE during the widespread shortage, and distributing the acquired PPE to HCPs in an equitable manner.

In March, they launched a GoFundMe page to raise money and a Facebook page to raise awareness. They organized over 35 student volunteers to promote the fundraiser and recruited local politicians and social media influencers to spread the word.

They secured CDC-certified PPE from a manufacturer by collaborating with a General Surgery resident at McMaster University who was running his own fundraiser for PPE and had connections with a manufacturer. This allowed them to access a manufacturer that hospitals could not able as the manufacturer was not taking new clients.

As a result of their efforts, this team raised over $15,000 in two weeks! The students also developed a resource sent to other medical schools in Ontario to assist them with their own PPE fundraisers. Medical students in Toronto used the resource and raised over $10,000 towards PPE!

These uOttawa medical students demonstrated their ability to problem-solve, collaborate with other parties, and overcome obstacles to reach their goal of helping health care professionals access much-needed PPE to protect themselves and limit the spread of COVID-19.

Dr. William Cameron and Dr. Michaeline McGuinty

During the initial phase of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, as shutdowns were implemented, Drs. McGuinty and Cameron demonstrated enormous dedication to the continuity and innovation of research. In early April, Drs. McGuinty and Cameron and their team began a project to create a case registry of all SARS-CoV-2 cases in the Ottawa region. A project of this nature would typically require several months of preparation even before Research Ethics Board approval and administrative steps. Working day and night, Drs. McGuinty and Cameron took the project from concept to initiation in a just a few weeks.

With a long-term vision, they ensured that this novel registry included all necessary clinical, epidemiological and laboratory parameters so that it will serve as a state-of-the-art repository for anyone to access it with novel research ideas.

With their incessant thirst to read any published material on SARS-CoV-2, they kept up-to-date on this rapidly evolving topic and educated members of the Department of Medicine through one-on-one consultations, informal discussions and presentations. They created the first treatment algorithms to manage this disease and updated that algorithms when new information became available. Thus, at the Ottawa Hospital, we were able to stay current in treating patients for COVID-19, since the very beginning.

I observed an exhaustive effort on the part of this team to bring the COVID-19 Registry project to life and would like to recognize that effort and its achievement by nominating this team for recognition by the University of Ottawa.

Dr. Marie-Eve Lizotte, Chief Intensive Care Unit, Hawkesbury and District General Hospital

Dr. Lizotte worked around the clock during the initial COVID-19 pandemic to organize our Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and to prepare our entire hospital for what was quite unknown at the time. Not only did she spearhead many new policies, protocols and order sets, she also became a personal protective equipment (PPE) champion, supervising and coaching staff on how to don and doff. We even made her a badge for her lab coat that said “PPE police”.

She worked with our plant management team to buy air purifiers, got the windows in the ICU removed, and tested air quality and sound levels to convert our ICU rooms into negative pressure rooms in case these were needed. She rid the entire unit of anything unnecessary and worked with the nursing and administrative staff to ensure no stakeholder was forgotten in the rapid decision making. Dr. Lizotte was a superstar during these stressful times and I certainly would not have gotten through all of this without her.

Farhan Mahmood and Catherine Gnyra, medical students

The University of Ottawa Skills and Simulation Centre (uOSSC) provides essential training to medical learners and healthcare providers (HCPs) working at The Ottawa Hospital. uOSSC staff were working hard to teach learners and HCPs how to provide quality care to patients with COVID-19 and to prevent the spread of the virus. This training includes practicing donning and doffing N95 masks.

To reserve the precious supply of N95 masks for HCPs and hospital staff, two medical students, Farhan Mahmood (MD2023) and Catherine Gnyra (MD2022), took on the initiative of creating mock N95 masks for use in training. They gained the support and advice of student leaders, communicated with a team at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine to learn about the mock N95s they were making, and purchased the supplies needed for at least 500 mock N95s. They assembled a team of more than 10 student volunteers, distributed the supplies, and virtually demonstrated how to create the masks. Without their initiative, real N95 masks would have been used for training, lessening the already deficient amount available for frontline HCPs.

The uOSSC and I are grateful for Farhan and Catherine’s leadership, compassion, collaborative efforts, health advocacy, and productivity.

Dr. Kristin Baetz, Interim Assistant Dean, Research

From the outset of the pandemic, Dr. Baetz has taken a leading role to ensure the safety and success of research teams across the Roger Guindon Hall (RGN) and Peter Morand Crescent (PMC) buildings. She played a critical role in developing and overseeing the implementation of emergency laboratory shut-down plans in early March, ensuring that research teams who needed to continue time-sensitive or COVID-19 research were supported while advocating for rapid ramp-down of non-essential onsite research.

Dr. Baetz was proactive in creating and chairing the Return to Research (R2R) committee, working with researchers and service teams to develop detailed plans to support a progressive return. Focusing on safety, equity and transparency, she developed an investigator-led model through which labs could restart onsite research. She drafted the R2R Guidelines, which provided researchers key information to facilitate their return. These were used as a model for other Faculties across the University, demonstrating our Faculty’s leadership role in the University community.

We have Dr. Baetz to thank for many safety precautions in place. She advocated for PPE, cleaning supplies and specialized COVID-19 training be provided to onsite staff and spent countless hours working with administrative teams to ensure that essential services were in place for a safe and effective return.

At each stage of the R2R, Dr Baetz, in collaboration with the Research Office team, has been in close contact with the research community to provide updates, review plans, provide occupancy limits, answer questions and respond to challenges. She has done so with great care and patience despite the competing demands on her time.

Dr. Baetz has gone above and beyond the call of duty and her leadership and understanding of the research community has made an invaluable impact on our ability to respond to the evolving situation while retaining our enviable position as the University of Ottawa’s most research-intensive faculty.

Kelsea Anstey, Academic Coordinator, Clerkship, Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME)

This transition has been a learning curve for all UGME and coordinators. Within the UGME office I, (and I know others) have received outstanding support from Kelsea!  

She is organized, responsive and helpful. She has ensured that coordinators’ concerns are heard and needs for fulfilling our new responsibilities are met.

She goes above and beyond to assist with new processes. Most importantly she does so with a friendly, approachable attitude.

• She is immediately responsive to emails and helps to liaise with UGME and Medtech
• She has helped us with ongoing support of the curriculum drive, one45 and TEAMS
• She understands the workload and provides us support in any way that she can!

All in all, throughout a demanding time of curriculum changes she has really stuck out as an excellent team player.

Jennifer Dale, Manager, Human Resources, and Daphnee O’Hurley-Bland, Human Resources Assistant, Human Resources  

It may have been April 1st, but it was no joke. At noon, the Quebec Government announced they were immediately deploying police in the Outaouais region to set-up checkpoints along the border to block non-essential travel between Ottawa and Gatineau to curb the transmission of COVID19.

A significant number of Faculty of Medicine learners, staff and faculty live in Quebec. There was real fear that members of our community would be blocked from crossing the border or would not be able to enter Ottawa the next day for work. Remarkably, within thirty minutes of the announcement, Jennifer and Daphnee sprang into action.

Working with the Research Office, the Health, Safety and Risk Management office, and the Chief Operating Officer, Jennifer and Daphnee compiled a list of all workers who had permission to be on site that week. They quickly generated essential worker letters for all the staff and trainees who were on site that day who lived in Quebec, in order to ensure they could get home that night. They worked well into the night generating letters for all other essential workers who live in Quebec to ensure that all staff had the documentation to cross the Ontario-Quebec border.

As someone who was “in-the-trenches” that day, I know first-hand the panic we were dealing with it. No one knew what was happening that afternoon at the bridges. It was an unprecedented and completely unexpected situation. However, both Jenifer and Daphnee tackled a very high-pressure situation with grace and humor, showing true team work.

The Office of Marketing and Communications, Faculty of Medicine

The Marketing and Communications team has been working very hard since the early days of the pandemic to ensure that we communicate relevant information internally and externally.

On top of managing an already very busy editorial schedule, the team adapted quickly and with all hands on deck to execute ongoing communications during this crisis.

Here are some facets of what the team has accomplished through working together:

• In the early weeks of the pandemic, the comms team worked long hours to keep up with hospital and university changes and to communicate important daily updates so our stakeholders had the information they needed.
• Created web pages for the Faculty, academic programs, the Research Office, and Wellness so that these groups could update their audiences in a timely manner. Professional graphics were created for the web and mass messages.
• Worked closely with downtown communications to alert the media of our researchers receiving COVID-19 rapid research funding from the federal government. This led to a large spike in media attention for our researchers in March and April.
• Since March, produced and disseminated frequent mass internal messages on behalf of the Dean to update and provide resources. We also created a branded "Dean's message" for twitter to allow Dr. Jasmin to give small bits of information and inspiration.
• In March, we put out a COVID-themed edition of MedPoint with a special introduction by the Dean, which included 9 COVID-related stories.
• From March to July, we produced 33 COVID-themed stories for our website and MedPoint, bringing the work of our researchers, clinicians, and students into the public eye. These resulted in numerous media articles and interviews.
• We created a focused social media campaign to help promote our first ever virtual convocation, which included congratulatory videos by professors and inspirational quote cards featuring some of our leading graduates from across our programs.

The academic administration team (AT) of the Department of Emergency Medicine (DEM): Glenda Clapham, Erika Donnelly, Jason Gauthier, Cheryl Geymonat, Ms. Margaret King

Since early March, all departments of the Faculty of Medicine were faced with new roadblocks / unknowns. No area of healthcare was as acutely impacted than EM – the frontline faculty and learners standing at the forefront of the pandemic tsunami. The DEM-AT was prepared and produced significant results through their unwavering dedication over long days and weekends.

Due to heightened foresight and strategic pandemic planning, the DEM-AT was ready to shift to a new business model with a work-from-home (WFM) environment. They maintained two-fold razor-sharp foci:

1. Keep faculty and learners as safe as possible; and
2. Do not allow the pandemic to adversely impact learners.

To keep faculty and learners safe, they responded with tireless nimbleness and unending flexibility to what seemed like daily changes in policy, process, and procedure. DEM-AT ensured a rapid turnaround of >200 faculty and 160 learner N95 mask fit testing and re-fittings. Multiple virtual “Town Hall” information sessions were organized. Continuous Professional Development sessions went into virtual over-drive to ensure that faculty had the skill and knowledge to deal with the most current information. For learners, multiple Q&A sessions were organized and supported.

To ensure that educational needs of DEM learners were not negatively impacted, the DEM-AT showed impressive elasticity to modify and meet needs. Their business model shifted to a virtual one seamlessly, with not one hour of education lost. DEM at uOttawa is reported to be one of the only academic EM centres in Canada to have provided uninterrupted educational endeavours seamlessly despite COVID adversity. Education sessions were held virtually or face-to-face following strict COVID guidelines. Learning objectives and curriculums were altered to accommodate the new formats. Rapid clinical shift scheduling ensured high-yield learning experiences while adjusting for COVID exposures, accommodations, and last-minute policy changes.

Much DEM-AT effort was also put into faculty and learner wellness. They assisted with the organization of virtual events such as trivia nights, yoga, and CrossFit sessions. They presented innovative ideas to recognize learners–a novel “graduation” event and a welcome event for faculty and learners to welcome the 2020-21 academic year.

Much like faculty and learners, the DEM-AT faced unprecedented personal and professional anxiety with pandemic disruption. Despite this, the DEM-AT showed exceptional reliability and support with exceptional achievements in productivity and operations for EM.

Community Mental Health Program, Royal Ottawa Health Care Group

During the Pandemic, the teams of this exceptional program have provided consistent and thoughtful care to their clients in the community. Under the excellent leadership of Dr. Carl Ripley, Dr. Susan Okigbo, Robin Pow, Kate Baker, Anita Bloeman, Nick Downs and Ron Remillard, the two ACT Teams, the Psychiatric Outreach Team, the Flexible ACT Team for adults with IDD, the Step Down from ACT Program, the ACTTDD (Brockville), the Homes for Special Care, Women’s Mental Health, and the Community Treatment Order Office have ensured no gaps in service for clients living with severe and persistent mental illness in the community, including in private homes, domiciliary hostels or group homes, and shelters. Collaboration with primary care providers and community support services has kept many clients safe and well, both mentally and physically. Staff have kept each other safe by attending to safety measures in the office, working from home, and seeing clients for essential visits in the community. Dedicated spaces have been developed to provide essential services, e.g. depot antipsychotic administration. Virtual support groups were set up to provide wellness discussions for front line staff by our psychology colleagues. Some of our nurses have volunteered to work at long-term care homes affected by outbreaks, and their teams have picked up the “slack”. The ingenuity and dedication demonstrated from the management and front line workers has been inspiring.

Charlene Clow, Director, Research Office (Interim)

When Ontario declared its COVID-19 state of emergency in March, the Faculty had to react quickly. It was imperative to immediately address how to safely ramp down research to decrease the number of people on site while mitigating the impact on time-sensitive research. To say that Charlene was instrumental in this process would be an understatement – it simply could not have been accomplished without her!

With close to a hundred wet labs at Roger Guindon Hall (RGN), collecting emergency plans for each lab and developing a COVID-19 derogation process to determine which researchers could remain on site was no small feat. Never before had such a complete and abrupt shut down of research been contemplated. During this first “lock-down” Charlene volunteered heroic hours (8am – 11pm), working to ensure the closing of research was as smooth and as equitable as possible. This gargantuan effort was necessary at every stage of the pandemic progression, each new phase requiring new policies, guidelines and rules. For example, the day the Quebec Premier closed the border between Ottawa and Outaouais, Charlene immediately jumped on board to help identify essential researchers on site who lived in Quebec and to elaborate and issue essential worker letters to allow them to cross the border.

Charlene has been on the frontlines helping to develop and implement the Return to Research (R2R) plan. She worked incessantly for weeks, answering 100s of questions and providing concrete solutions to emerging issues daily, including organizing communications, updating the website, and compiling and maintaining R2R plans for every lab on site.

We cannot emphasize enough that it is in large part through Charlene’s commitment – truly beyond the call of duty–that the Faculty of Medicine was able to again lead the way in terms of how the whole University adapted its research activities in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Anne-Marie Maheu, Gestionnaire de l’équipe d’Approvisionnements et logistique

Sachant que l’équipe des Approvisionnement et logistique offre des services qui sont indispensables à la continuité des opérations de la communauté de recherche, des départements et des divers bureaux de la Faculté, dès le début de la crise de la COVID-19, Anne-Marie a su faire preuve de leadership. Elle s’est rapidement impliquée avec le Bureau de la recherche pour aider à établir les besoins en équipement de protection personnel. Voyant que les besoins en équipement de protection personnelle (EPP) s’intensifiaient, grâce à son leadership nous avons été l’une des premières facultés, voir la première faculté, à sécuriser et recevoir de l’équipement de protection personnel. Anne-Marie a partagé avec le Central toute la recherche qu’elle et son équipe avaient fait auprès des divers fournisseurs. De plus, afin d’assurer la santé et la sécurité des employés qui devaient assurer la réception de la marchandise, en consultation avec le Bureau de la recherche, elle a rapidement mis en place des procédures à cet effet. Elle a également aider à coordonner la réception de l’équipement de protection personnel offerts par divers donateurs. Tout au long de la crise, Anne-Marie a su mettre à profit son expertise, ses connaissances et son expérience et par ce fait a contribué de façon importante au maintien des opérations et à la continuité de la recherche.

Eric Prendergast, Operations and Logistics Manager of the Procurement and Logistics Services

When the first drastic measures resulting from the pandemic were implemented, Eric, deemed essential and working on-site, immediately took the lead on coordinating space to accommodate quantities of inventory that the Faculty has never before managed. Thousands of boxes were counted, moved, and secured in inventory. Meanwhile, troubleshooting to obtain essential products on back-order and the distribution of essential products for safety and research continuity was seamlessly managed. The support staff on site has been limited but the activities and planning of PPE never stopped, adding pressure to perform and adapt faster.

Despite multiple difficulties, uncertainties, changes of procedure and decisions to be made, Eric showed persistence and focused on ensuring uninterrupted service and support for the research community. He performed several roles simultaneously while showing empathy, encouraging collaboration, supporting team members, ensuring equitable workloads, and maintaining effective communication amongst staff, including those on and off-site.

By this recognition, I wish to show my appreciation and for Eric’s dedication and productivity during these difficult time. Without his loyalty and dedication, the service level and team spirit would have not been the same.

Kimmy Yang, Translational Molecular Medicine (TMM) student

Kimmy is not only an outstanding Translational Molecular Medicine (TMM) student, but also a stellar artist with an extremely devoted work ethic. This is exemplified by her art business "kimmyartxo". Kimmy seized this time of great uncertainty as an opportunity, working tirelessly to establish her business. This included developing and publishing a website (kimmyartxo.com), securing resources, establishing her brand, and building up her stock. Products range from breathtaking original fine art prints, stunning custom orders, and exquisite colle3ction sets which include a variety of unique components.

As of 22 Jul, she has made over 100 sales and garnered over $3,000 USD in profits. Her sales have continued to grow and she continues to expand her artistic horizons by embarking on novel creative projects.

As a dedicated advocate for mental health, she provides mental health information and resources on her website and dedicates part of her profits to the charity Do It For Daron. Kimmy has not only successfully established a business from the ground up in less than 2 months in the midst of a pandemic, but shares the fruits of her labour in her continued efforts to improve the community around her.

Her story is an inspiration for her colleagues and is deserving of recognition by the Faculty, and the University, to which she brings great credit.

Stream 2: Outstanding humanitarian efforts

Objective: to recognize the competencies most valued during a crisis, such as commitment, resiliency, compassion, integrity and resolve; to honour individuals and/or teams who have positively impacted the lives of their co-workers during the isolation period of COVID-19.

These are shortened versions of the submissions, in the language of submission.

Alexa Goodbaum, medical student, MD2021

As part of a group of 5 medical students from Ontario, Alexa started a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) drive for Health Care Practitioners (HCPs) in Toronto. PPE for HCPs was a grass-roots initiative whose aim was to address the shortage of PPE during the pandemic by collecting PPE donations and redistributing them to healthcare facilities, homeless shelters and long-term care homes in need. Alexa collaborated as a leader on the executive team to recruit and manage over 900 volunteers to help with these efforts, which led to the collection and distribution more than 32,000 face shields and masks, 180,000+ gloves, 2000+ gowns and 170+ hand sanitizers/sanitizing wipes. Alexa demonstrated exceptional collaboration and communication as she managed the PPE donations and inventory and planned and prepared the deliveries. With her hard work and dedication, many organizations were able to care for their patients without fear of contamination.

In addition to her work directly with the PPE for HCPs Toronto item drive, Alexa established an accompanying fundraiser, which raised over $11,000 for the purchase of PPE for facilities in need. She also demonstrated the qualities of an exceptional health advocate by establishing and coordinating a mask exchange program, whereby individuals who donated medical grade PPE received a reusable mask in return. This supported the community use of face coverings while reinforcing the judicious use of resources and reservation of medical grade PPE for frontline HCPs.

After being pulled from clerkship rotations, Alexa consciously decided to dedicate this time to helping her community and in doing so demonstrated exceptional skills in various roles as a communicator, collaborator, leader and health advocate. It is a privilege to nominate Alexa Goodbaum for the Faculty of Medicine COVID-19 Recognition Program.

Trudy Kelly, RN, Step Down from ACT Program, Community MH Program, Royal Ottawa Health Care Group

Ms. Kelly has gone “above and beyond” during the pandemic. Not only has she continued to provide excellent and thorough support to her clients with severe and persistent mental illness, she has also been a strong advocate for health and safety of fellow staff members on the Joint Health and Safety Committee of the Community Mental Health Program. She remains vigilant and attends to health and safety risks daily. Ms. Kelly also advocates for safe medication administration of our clients in the community, especially at the high-risk times of transition. As part of the COVID-19 Subcommittee at the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, she has been part of several meetings per week, on top of her clinical duties. As part of this Committee, she has inspected and made recommendations to a Long Term Care Facility in the midst of an outbreak with COVID-19. Trudy’s support to her colleagues and clients is an inspiration.

The Bridge Team: Ted Bignell, Kelly Florence, Terry Hegarty, Nina Huynh, Sadia Jama, Dr. Smita Pakhale and Saania Tariq

The Bridge Engagement Centre is a community-based research centre located in the Vanier community under the auspice of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. The Centre focuses on conducting participatory action research in partnership with the most vulnerable citizens of Ottawa: people who are experiencing or are at-risk for homelessness, use drugs, have mental health issues and/or self-identify as Indigenous. As the Centre’s research focuses on improving people’s wellbeing and quality of life through community engagement, the pandemic was devastating for these citizens, as these activities had to be stopped. With their clinical randomized controlled trial on hold, the Bridge Team sought to find alternative means to support the participants and community peer researchers. They developed innovative solutions to maintain a supportive community environment, such as having the community peer researchers conduct weekly phone check-ins with participants, organizing physically distanced picnics, and offering participants Nicotine Replacement Therapy through curbside pick-up/drop-off.

The team also utilized the pandemic as an opportunity to develop innovative projects to improve the quality of life vulnerable populations. They worked tirelessly to submit 10 grants in 5 weeks, and was awarded 4 of these for their newest projects, one of which focuses on Canada's COVID-19 response and its Impact on vulnerable populations in Canada. Their mentorship of students also continued seamlessly throughout the pandemic. The team mentored 10 medical trainees in various research projects, held many virtual meetings, and even held a half-day virtual student retreat which covered topical issues such as racism.

The Bridge Team’s resiliency and determination to continue to work in partnership with the community and to ensure that the participants were not left behind during the challenging times of lockdown is inspiring and deserves to be recognized.

Dr. Sylvie Aucoin, Site Chief for the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, TOH, Civic Campus

As a Site Chief, Dr. Aucoin holds an important leadership role which she assumed in September 2019, after having joined the department in August 2018. In the same way that Dr. Aucoin quickly excelled in this role, which already carried enormous responsibility, she also responded swiftly and tirelessly to prepare for the pandemic in Ottawa. She worked countless hours to ensure the safety and preparation of staff, residents and fellows; to prepare our clinical environments; and to coordinate and collaborate with other departments to develop the necessary patient care protocols. She also played a key role in developing the Protected Code Blue policy to prepare for the anticipated influx of patients that was expected this spring.  She demonstrated a unique ability to support and protect the well-being of colleagues and trainees, while also maintaining perspective regarding the need to provide essential anesthesia and surgical services and to ensure that patients received the greatest and safest care possible.

According to character, Dr. Aucoin demonstrated exceptional commitment, enduring resiliency, consummate compassion, professional integrity and personal resolve during this time, helping staff to feel reassured and supported. And while it was undeniably a time of significant stress for all department members, Dr. Aucoin embodied grace under pressure, even when experiencing the same stress herself. She took the time to address all staff questions and concerns, to provide regular updates and to relay important information, all while constantly adapting to the situation at hand. This flexibility and responsiveness was especially important early-on in the pandemic, when new information and research was emerging on a daily basis.

Her approach is always reasoned and measured, making her someone whom department members can readily depend upon. Similarly, as Department Head, I am grateful to work with strong leaders such as Dr. Aucoin who I can depend on upon as well, and whose support is integral to my own leadership of the department. For these reasons, I genuinely hope you will consider honouring Dr. Sylvie Aucoin for her efforts, both prior and ongoing, in displaying outstanding humanitarianism during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Student Senior Isolation Prevention Partnership, Ottawa Chapter

Executive team: Stephanie Chevrier, Celina DeBiasio, Evelyne Guay, Chelsea Haliburton and Jennifer Rowe, medical students

Isolation is always a critical concern for seniors; the effects of COVID-19 and physical distancing only amplifying this problem. Having heard heartbreaking stories of isolated seniors in care facilities and having studied the impact of socialization on health, these five uOttawa medical students formed the Ottawa SSIPP (Student Senior Isolation Prevention Partnership) Chapter, which strives to provide companionship and socialization to isolated older adults.

Ms. Chevrier, Ms. DeBiasio, Ms. Guay, Ms. Haliburton and Ms. Rowe collaborated with numerous health care professionals to identify local seniors at risk of social isolation. They also recruited medical student volunteers who were matched to these seniors based on primary language and common interests. The volunteers call their senior partner every week and share resources to share with them, including COVID-19 updates, public health guidelines and information on grocery services and walk-in clinics. Since its creation in April 2020, this executive team has worked with over a dozen healthcare teams and matched over 42 older adults and medical students!

These executives act as leaders within the medical school and local communities. They advocate for seniors and learn about the challenges seniors face through discussions with the volunteers and the national SSIPP board. They’ve established connections with numerous health care professionals and gained a better understanding of the positive impact medical students can have while collaborating with interdisciplinary health care teams. Working with physician mentors, who have helped foster their growth as leaders and to which they are very grateful, Ms. Chevrier, Ms. DeBiasio, Ms. Guay, Ms. Haliburton, and Ms. Rowe have implemented a grassroots intervention and are excited to grow this initiative, supported by the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine.

Volunteer Anecdote:

It was just a really special experience to start the call as a stranger and leave as friends, learning about each other. I can't wait to learn more about my friend over these next few months!

“I called X at the right time it seems. They were having a particularly rough morning emotionally, and mentioned to me at the end of the call that they wanted to talk to someone and were looking for my number when I called them”- Volunteer, the Ottawa Student Senior Isolation Prevention Partnership (SSIPP)

Creating through Covid, led by Shabana Jamani, medical student, uOttawa.

Executive Team: Nadin Abbas, Lidia Avvakoumova, Rahul Kapur, Farhan Mahmood, medical students, uOttawa

Shabana has had a lifelong commitment to and passion for mental health advocacy and loves to find creative ways to improve the mental health of those around her. She became the MD2022 Student Advisory Office Representative and the Vice President of Community Health as well as Co-Chair of the Student Wellness Committee.

During the pandemic, Shabana saw that many healthcare professionals were struggling silently with their mental health, and that many shared their voices through the arts and humanities by painting, building, writing, singing, and playing music. She designed the ​Creating Through Covid website (​https://www.creatingthroughcovid.org/​) to provide a platform for front line workers, medical students, and physicians to connect and to share their stories and to promote health wellness strategies. The platform provides a unique outlet for emotions for medical professionals that is both cathartic to the artists and inspiring and comforting for viewers of the art.

Shabana assembled a group of talented uOttawa medical students to join her in making up the executive team of this initiative­: Nadin Abbas, Lidia Avvakoumova, Farhan Mahmood and Rahul Kapur. They play a crucial role in marketing, communications, advertising and promotion of the website. This executive team hoped to expand their reach beyond Ottawa, and before long, the site had submissions and recognition from medical schools within and outside of Canada.

Shabana defines what it means to be a compassionate leader within our medical school. She truly is a forward-thinker, using her creativity and care for others to guide her in every initiative in which she partakes. She and her team deserve recognition for their outstanding work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Nathalie Fleming, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s Vice Chair of Faculty Affairs

Dr. Fleming has contributed a great deal to the wellness of our Department members during these unprecedented and stressful times. Her portfolio includes oversight of promotions, the mentoring program and departmental wellness, but after the COVID-19 outbreak, she pivoted her work to focus on wellness.

She first established a Wellness Committee, including representation from each division as well as nurses, trainees, and administration. Their goal was to make all wellness initiatives inclusive and open to all in the Department. With her team, Dr. Fleming established a Departmental SharePoint site to share resources for resiliency, mindfulness, financial, family/children, prayer and meditation, to name a few. The site included ongoing activities, such as a team STEP challenge, yoga sessions, trivia nights, photography and HIIT training classes. Every event was a success, and the feedback was all positive! It fostered the spirit that we are all in this together and provided great opportunity for team building. New challenges are added, making this an effective tool to keep members engaged, connected, having fun, keeping fit and ultimately improving wellness.

The “Buddy System” was also promoted. With so much uncertainty and anxiety, this system proved to be an important tool for many staff members, promoting check-ins on fellow staff and helping to foster a stronger support system. If anyone had a particularly challenging case or operating room day, another member of the department would follow up with them to touch base.

I want to commend and congratulate Dr. Fleming for all her efforts, making wellness a priority for our Department during this pandemic. Her compassion and commitment to her colleagues should be recognized.

Dr. Milena Garofalo, Obstetrician Gynecologist, Hawkesbury General Hospital, DIME/uOSSC fellow, uOttawa

Dr. Garofalo is one of our Obstetrics and Gynecology physicians. Given that she has training and expertise in simulation studies, she led the COVID-19 training in the family birthing centre. She organized multiple half days of simulations where we walked through every step of a COVID-19 mother labouring to her needing a stat C-section in the operating room. Dr. Garofalo included medical, nursing, housekeeping, portering, IPAC, and administration across multiple departments. She summarized every single step and action item for each person and closed the loop afterwards. This remarkable work is noteworthy for its productivity, however, what makes it so special is that she did all this in a cheerful, caring manner, even on what were supposed to be her days off. She ensured that we performed the simulations repeatedly to be comfortable and to reduce anxiety. She was calm, reassuring, and helped to coach rather than stress the team. She was always available by email and phone to answer questions, and was an incredible support to the department chief with whom she worked very collaboratively. The positive culture in the family birthing centre during COVID-19 has a lot to do with her presence and her determination to get us on the same page. She is truly living the Hawkesbury General Hospital values and is an important member of our team.

Dr. Emilio Alarcon, Associate Professor, Biochemistry Molecular Biology & Immunology

On March 12, 2020, the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) CEO and CSO indicated that all laboratory research and most clinical research activities were halted. At the same time, the availability of essential personal protective equipment and sanitation products were quickly becoming limited. The UOHI Clinical Services Department was faced with shortages of hand sanitizer, required by the researchers/trainees who remained onsite and essential for clinical operations. Learning of the gravity of the shortage, Dr. Alarcon consulted the World Health Organization (WHO) to obtain the formula for “hospital grade” hand sanitizer, and with his postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Marcelo Munoz, he sought permission from the Institute to return to the lab to begin this operation.

Within 10 days, Dr. Alarcon and Ms. Bonnie Bowes, Vice President, Quality, Privacy and Health Information/Chief Nursing Officer  developed a plan to distribute the product to the front line workers and patient areas. Dr. Alarcon sourced bottles and developed a sanitization process for  re-using these, produced MSDS labels, and documented a decanting process. Dr. Alarcon procured the WHO approved reagents and worked to generate large batches of sanitizer for the Clinical Services Department.

There is no question that Dr. Alarcon’s prompt response and practical innovation impacted the lives of front line staff, cardiac patients and all others, including students, at the Institute by enabling a safe and sanitized environment when it was most needed during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Dolly Lin, Chief Resident, Public Health and Preventive Medicine

While many programs saw decreased demands on residents as surgeries were paused and in-person clinic visits deferred, public health residents saw their workloads quintuple as our public health system went into emergency response mode to keep our population safe. Public health residents stepped up to meet unprecedented demands. Dr Lin was on placement at Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) doing her Leadership and Management rotation.

Dr. Lin was our Chief Resident within the Public Health and Preventive Medicine program throughout the peak of the first wave of the pandemic. Within our program, the chief resident takes on a huge amount of planning for coordinating the learning of residents. Despite the huge service demands of her rotation, Dr. Lin continued to manage our program with dedication and integrity. She coordinated our academic half days, and while several speakers canceled at the last minute, she stepped up to pull together presentations with little warning. She was conscious of limiting the burden on other residents and worked hard to ensure that she included resident input in the planning of our learning. Recognizing the huge burden this crisis places on our residents in particular, she even arranged for Resident Doctors of Canada to present resiliency tools during our academic half day. In every way, Dr. Lin went above and beyond to respond to resident needs while under huge pressure.

COVID Changemakers: Nabil Asraoui, Ana Turner, Kristina Yau, medical students

Kristina, Nabil and Ana realized that one does not have to be on the frontlines to contribute meaningfully during COVID-19. This inspired them to work tirelessly to spearhead and run COVID Changemakers, an online initiative aimed at sharing stories of kindness and positivity and celebrating everyday people who are contributing to their communities. Using online social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, COVID Changemakers’ vision is to empower individuals to know they are part important solutions in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

To encourage followers to submit stories of kindness, this trio organized a gift card raffle, promotion of which reached over 850 individuals on Facebook alone. Since March, COVID Changemakers grew a following of over 520 individuals and over 20 submissions. The team partnered with the Canadian Medical Association’s COVID Kindness initiative and McMaster’s BHSc Wellness Initiative to amplify each other’s work on social media. Ultimately, COVID Changemakers’ down-to-earth approach, lighthearted tone, and feel-good stories make the content accessible to their followers.

Kristina, Nabil and Ana’s relentless drive resulted in the featuring of COVID Changemakers by the Ontario Medical Students Association as well as an invitation to be a guest on the Progressholic podcast. This team’s dedication, passion and determination to showcase positivity during these times is truly inspiring.