Even Doctors Need Doctors

Dr. Tiffany Florindo’s hospital lanyard tells a quiet but powerful story. Clipped to it are nine small Say Thanks pins, each representing a donation made in her honour by a grateful patient. “And those are just the ones that fit,” she laughs. “I’ve got more sitting on the side. It’s honestly so humbling.”

Tiffany has been a physician at North York General for nearly a decade, serving as a family doctor, an educator, and a leader in quality improvement. She’s also a familiar face in the Labour and Delivery unit, where she helps bring new life into the world. But in 2019, she found herself in an unfamiliar position—needing care herself.

Even Doctors Need Doctors

The Doctor Becomes the Patient

“I was pregnant with my second child, about 29 weeks along, and I was on-call, helping with an urgent delivery,” she recalls. “In the middle of it, my water broke.”

Even in that high-stakes moment, she stayed focused on the patient in front of her. “Once I had stabilized my patient, I turned to a colleague and said, ‘I think my water just broke.’ He asked how far along I was, and everything moved pretty quickly after that.”

She was moved to a private room to protect her privacy, and Dr. Daniel Kreichman, the OB on call, took over her care. “Everyone rallied around me,” she says. “They made sure I felt safe and looked after, like I wasn’t alone in that moment.”
Because NYGH’s NICU doesn’t take babies under 30 weeks, Tiffany was transferred to Sunnybrook. “But as soon as I hit 30 weeks, I came back. NYGH is home. It was the next best thing to being in my actual house. I was surrounded by people I trusted—people who knew me, but more importantly, who knew how to care for me.”

Care that Goes Beyond Clinical

She spent over two weeks on the unit where she normally works, this time as a patient. “It was tough being away from my daughter and my husband, who was trying to hold things down at home. But my colleagues would check in, make sure I was eating, make sure I was okay. I genuinely felt cared for.”

Though she ultimately delivered at 37 weeks, Tiffany remained under close monitoring, returning twice a week for ultrasounds, bloodwork, and check-ins. “When your water breaks that early, it’s not just about the baby—it’s about managing two patients in one body,” she says.

What stood out to her most was how her colleagues treated her. “They didn’t speak to me like I was a physician. They spoke to me like a patient. And I really needed that. They told me, ‘You’re not the doctor today. You’re our patient. Let us take care of it.’”

Why She Says Thanks—Now and Always

Now, five years later, Tiffany’s son is healthy and thriving. And she hasn’t forgotten what it meant to receive that level of care. “I’ve had two babies at NYGH, and I’ll be having my third here too. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Her Say Thanks pins are more than a token of appreciation from others—they’re a reminder of the gratitude she holds for her team as well.

“This is why I choose to be a patient at the hospital I work in. The care people receive here—whether they’re staff or patients—is the same. It’s full of heart.”

This Phyicians’ Day, take a moment to honour the care providers who show up for us, and for each other. Make your Say Thanks donation today.

Donate Now