Dear Friends,
It’s hard to believe that we’re at the end of yet another tumultuous year and we are still using terms such as pause, postpone, avoid, small, virtual office “party”, shut down, limited, restrict, capacity, caution, cancel, pull out, quarantine and unfortunately, we’re learning or getting reacquainted with letters of the Greek alphabet.
Perhaps we all thought (or at least hoped), we might have a bit of a reprieve over the holidays and then Omicron reared up (am I the only one that constantly says “Omni”cron?) and our plans went awry. We adapt, load shed, revert, pivot, adjust, course correct and just try our best to meet new challenges and stay motivated at home and at work.
If you ever need some inspiration, I urge you to think about health care workers who haven’t had a break from this global disaster for almost two years. Yes, they are tired because they are human, but they continue to care for patients and families, every hour of every day.
If you ever need some inspiration, I urge you to think about health care workers who haven’t had a break from this global disaster for almost two years. Yes, they are tired because they are human, but they continue to care for patients and families, every hour of every day.
North York General is a small city of care across multiple facilities with over 4,000 staff and physicians caring for you, your friends, and your family under very challenging and sometimes unknown circumstances.
It is my privilege to see this first-hand and at North York General, you don’t need to look very far or deep to find stories of compassion, strength, and resilience. Stories from the emergency medicine team to ICU, from maternal newborn and paediatrics to mental health care, from our porters and environmental services to screeners and patient registration, from volunteers and allied health professionals to our education and research teams and from anesthesiology, surgery, and seniors care to infection control, cancer care, acute care, internal medicine, palliative care and our family physicians. All made possible by donor support, our administrative and clinical leadership, hospital and foundation boards and committees, HR staff, information management, the foundation team, patient flow staff, medical imaging, our pharmacists and laboratory medicine, and many others.Health care and hospitals are always on and the importance of the donor community can’t be overstated or underestimated during these times. Capital redevelopment, acquiring new equipment and technology, responding to emergency situations, and funding program and research needs can’t be paused or postponed. These are funded in part or in full through philanthropy — in other words, donors like you who have supported us like a Dickens character, in the past, in the present and we hope, in the future. We are endlessly grateful for all of you.
The holiday season proper is almost upon us and it remains a collection of shifting timing, numbers, locations, and place settings. A year ago, I personally didn’t know anyone with COVID-19 and now I know many but thankfully, none are acutely ill as they are vaccinated, and that is a positive result one wants to see.
In our house, we still don’t know what Christmas will look like or even how many (few) family members we will see, but I am getting a few things ready!
I wish all of you healthy and safe gatherings however you mark this holiday season with your own traditions, faith, food, and celebrations. I will ring in 2022 with hope and gratitude.
Be well and stay safe,
Terry Pursell (aka Gigi)
President & CEO
of my kitchen table
If you’d like to make a donation before the tax year ends, click the link below.
If you’d like to make a donation before the tax year ends, click the link below.
