Dr. Taylor Lougheed

Dr. Taylor Lougheed, BA ’08, B.Sc. ‘08

How has your job been impacted by COVID-19?

I have a mixed medical practice that includes emergency, sport, family, and cannabinoid medicine. As the COVID-19 pandemic evolved, my work transitioned to almost exclusively helping in the emergency department, and otherwise only seeing urgent patients in other clinical settings. Within the emergency department there has been a tremendous effort by the entire team to redesign the patient process, including screening and triage, to ensure we are able to see patients and provide care as safely as possible. We are all wearing masks and head coverings, essentially for our entire shift, and are using protective gowns, gloves, and face shields for anyone we suspect may have COVID. As a result, the care we provide tends to take longer and require more thought and planning. While our PPE helps keep both the patient and the team safe, we have also had to work hard to ensure patients feel the care remains personal and empathetic, as we know visiting the emergency department can be a stressful and anxious time for patients, particularly with COVID and the current policies in place that limit visitors. 

How has your industry been affected?

Medicine as a whole has been significantly affected. For example, almost all elective clinical visits, surgeries, and procedures were cancelled for a period of about two months, and we are only now starting the discussions around what a gradual re-opening of services might look like. A lot of healthcare had to quickly attempt to switch to virtual care options, and while this has helped there were issues with capacity, bandwidth, tech troubleshooting, and the reality that many specialties and healthcare issues require in-person assessments. The various closures have ultimately had a tremendous impact on patients by delaying care, lengthening wait times, and increasing the risk of morbidity and mortality. It is expected that it will take a long time, as well as a tremendous amount of effort, creativity, and expanded funding to ‘catch up’ to where we were prior to COVID. As things start to open up, we are also bracing for a potential second wave of COVID cases and how that will further impact the health system. 

How do you stay busy or connected with family and friends?

We are fortunate that there are multiple options for us to video chat quite easily with our friends and family - it is great to be able to both see and hear how people are doing, and I can only imagine how much more difficult social distancing and isolation would be without it! We actually schedule video chat time in our week to ensure that we are staying social and connected, and have found it very helpful for our emotional and psychological wellbeing to have these chats to look forward to. As a family we have otherwise tried to focus on some of the positive elements including time together and an opportunity to finish small household projects and get an early start on spring cleaning. With the warmer weather, we have been spending a lot of time outdoors enjoying the fresh air!

What has inspired you the most in your community?

The sense that despite being physically apart, we are all in this together. On almost a daily basis I am reading about how individuals, families, groups, and businesses have all stepped forward in some way to improve our circumstances. In North Bay, where I now live, I have seen hundreds of signs in windows thanking essential workers, stores offering free food to those who may need it, and schools collecting and donating PPE for our hospital. The local radio stations highlight local businesses that are still open and able to offer support (and be supported), ways to donate food to the local food bank, and encouraging everyone to reach out to each other to stay connected and support each other’s mental health. There are countless other examples, and it feels clear that we all recognize that these are challenging times but that by working together we can limit the risk and come through the pandemic as a community.