By lindsaylow
GILLIAN GRAVELY | The Rekai Centres On April 21, Gillian Gravely, an advanced practice nurse educator (APNE) at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, began a voluntary redeployment to Rekai Centres long-term care facility. “Having worked the front line through SARS, I always thought another deadly virus could come along at some stage — but never to the … Continued
By lindsaylow
TASLEEM NIMJEE | Humber River Hospital At the beginning of March, Dr. Tasleem Nimjee says her entire team in the emergency department at Humber River Hospital was running on adrenaline. “I had trouble sleeping at night. What kept me up wasn’t worry about my own safety — a mother never worries about herself,” says Dr. … Continued
By lindsaylow
JULIE NARDI | Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre As a university student, Julie Nardi says she was always fascinated by virology. “As a respiratory therapist, I started my career only a few short years after SARS hit Toronto but have worked during the threats of H1N1 and Ebola and have always felt it was just a … Continued
By lindsaylow
SIEW TANG | North York General Hospital Siew Tang has been a registered nurse for 38 years and has spent much of that time at North York General, including during the 2003 SARS crisis. “We were providing care to patients in the emergency department as many of them were our own health-care workers. It was … Continued
By lindsaylow
MELISSA SAMAROO | Michael Garron Hospital One year after completing the nursing program at Ryerson University, Melissa Samaroo began working at Michael Garron Hospital. A year later, SARS happened. “I think experiencing SARS first-hand and caring for those patients in critical care opened my mind to the possibility of a pandemic,” says Samaroo who is now a … Continued
By lindsaylow
TAMMY HEDLEY-EGAS | Mount Sinai Hospital Tammy Hedley-Egas has been a registered nurse for two decades and was working during the SARS crisis. “At that time, I thought this might be the biggest thing I could see in my career, but now COVID has shut the city down,” she says. Hedley-Egas sought a career in health … Continued
By lindsaylow
These patient care leaders each oversee 70 front line health-care workers caring for the most vulnerable and at-risk patients at Mackenzie Health. DAWN DONALDSON As a patient care manager for the reactivation care centre, Dawn Donaldson is taking daily calls from patients’ families who are anxious and looking for reassurance. She also volunteered at a … Continued
By Nikki Gill
JEYA NADARAJAH | Markham Stouffville Hospital It was a Grade 9 biology class that initially sparked Dr. Jeya Nadarajah’s fascination with microbiology and defined her career path in the field of infectious diseases. “For those of us who study infectious diseases, we understand the genetic shifts and species jumps that occur within the field of … Continued
By Nikki Gill
JANET EDWARDS | Baycrest Janet Edwards has been a nurse for three decades, and she has spent two of those decades caring for patients at Baycrest. With a long career in the health care industry, she knew the possibility of a pandemic existed and says a frontline worker must always be prepared for the unexpected. … Continued
By Nikki Gill
One of Toronto’s favourite bakeries, Roselle Desserts, is run by Stephanie Duong and Bruce Lee. Although the shop is temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 health crisis, they will be running a pop-up shop just in time for Mother’s Day. Orders can be placed starting Monday, May 4 at 11 a.m. on their website and … Continued
By Nikki Gill
The fourth and final season of Cardinal premieres tonight on CTV at 10 p.m., so we caught up with James Downing who plays Detective McLeod in the series. The tagline for the fourth season is, “Six more weeks of winter,” as the season unfolds with a seemingly mundane missing-persons case that turns into a spree … Continued
By Nikki Gill
In times of despair, a little bit of comic relief tends to bring some much-needed happiness. Thankfully, The Second City is doing just that. All three locations are coming together (Toronto, Chicago and L.A.) for a live-streamed improv show called Improv House Party. The first show streams tonight. The improv show will feature teams of … Continued
