Featuring: Dr. Ripudaman S. Minhas, Developmental Paediatrician, St. Michael’s Hospital, Sabina Vohra-Miller, Co-Founder, Vohra Miller Foundation and Founder, Unambiguous Science and Dr. Seema Marwaha, Internal Medicine Physician, St. Michael’s Hospital

Sabina Vohra-Miller, pediatrician Dr. Ripu Minhas, and physician Dr. Seema Marwaha talk about the risks and realities of everything from COVID in schools to vaccines for kids. Here are some helpful mental health resources for kids and their parents: www.mentalhealthto.ca, www.kidsmentalhealth.ca, www.family.cmho.org/about/ and www.camh.ca/en/your-care/programs-and-services/mood-anxiety-for-children-youth-service

Featuring: Dr. Matthew Muller, Medical Director, Infection Prevention and Control, St. Michael’s Hospital

Dr. Matthew Muller, Infectious disease specialist and medical director of infection prevention and control at St. Michael’s Hospital, fills us in on the different COVID-19 vaccines, when they’ll arrive, who will get them and whether we still need to wear our masks.

Featuring: Dr. Matthew Muller, Medical Director, Infection Prevention and Control, St. Michael’s Hospital

In the latest installment of St. Michael’s Facts from the Frontlines podcast series, hosted by Dr. Bob Howard, Dr. Matthew Muller, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at St. Michael’s Hospital, tells us what to expect in the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s optimistic that we’ll get a vaccine, but likely not see it until next year. Opening schools will increase risk, so maintaining social distancing and increasing testing and contact tracing will be crucial. The good news is that St. Michael’s is ready, with stockpiled PPE and new training and protocols informed by what we’ve learned during the pandemic.

Featuring: Sonya Canzian, Executive Vice-President of Clinical Programs, and Chief Nursing and Health Professions Officer, Unity Health Toronto

Sonya Canzian talks about St. Michael’s plan to gradually reintroduce medical services in the hospital, using an equitable framework to ensure all patients receive timely care, and how the hospital will deal with the “new normal” of enhanced safety measures, virtual care and shared resources.

Featuring: Dr, Matthew Muller, Medical Director, Infection Prevention and Control, St. Michael’s Hospital

Dr. Matthew Muller discusses the latest discoveries around COVID-19, including the risk of complications due to age, sex and certain medical conditions, how singing, yelling and talking spread the virus, and why he suggests outdoor rather than indoor activities, wearing masks but not gloves, and staying out of planes and restaurants for now.

Featuring: Dr. Eliane Shore, Obstetrician Gynecologist at St. Michael’s Hospital

St. Michael’s obstetrician gynecologist Dr. Eliane Shore explains how St. Michael’s OB teams protect pregnant moms from COVID-19 before, during and after delivery. New moms can follow the Pandemic Pregnancy Guide on Instagram to get advice from St. Mike’s pregnancy and labour experts.

Featuring: Dr. James Maskalyk, Emergency Room Physician

St. Michael’s Emergency physician Dr. James Maskalyk worked on the frontlines of epidemics in Ethiopia and Sudan. In this episode, he tells us what it’s like to battle COVID-19 at St. Michael’s, from comforting patients despite masks and isolation to using meditation and meaningful action to help himself cope with stress.

Featuring: Dr. Ori Rotstein, VP of Research and Innovation at Unity Health Toronto and the Keenan Chair in Research Leadership at St. Michael’s Hospital

Dr. Ori Rotstein, VP of Research and Innovation at Unity Health Toronto and the Keenan Chair in Research Leadership at St. Michael’s Hospital, explains how St. Michael’s is positioning itself as an international research force in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.

Featuring: Fergus Cubbage, RN, Medical Surgical Intensive Care, St. Michael's Hospital

Fergus Cubbage, who has 15 years of nursing experience at St. Michael’s Hospital, tells us how he and his colleagues are coping during the COVID-19 pandemic. He shares a typical day in the ICU, which includes protocols for donning and doffing their PPE, and ends with an uplifting story about all the support nurses have received from hospital leadership, colleagues and the St. Michael’s community.

Featuring: Dr. Matthew Muller, Medical Director, Infection, Prevention and Control, St. Michael's Hospital

We talk about COVID-19 overwhelming the health-care system. After all for every 100 new cases, 10-20 people will be hospitalized, and half of those will end up in the ICU. But, as Dr. Matthew Muller, Medical Director of Infection, Prevention and Control, who has been on the frontlines of pandemic preparedness at St. Michael’s, explains, in comparison to some other countries, Canada is better off because we’ve have more time to prepare. Still, he cautions, that doesn’t mean we can relax physical distancing measures. In this episode, Dr. Muller also sheds light on diagnostic testing and where we are in vaccine development.

Featuring: Dr. Stephen Hwang, Director, MAP Centre for UrbanHealth Solutions, St. Michael's Hospital

The closure of the community centres and meal programs and the restrictions around maintaining physical distance are compounding the stresses on people who are homeless. The cost of doing nothing about homelessness and accepting the status quo has never been more starkly apparent. Will COVID-19 force us to change how we deal with this pressing issue? Dr. Stephen Hwang, Medical Director of MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, talks about the challenges and what St. Michael’s scientists are doing to end chronic homelessness.

Featuring: Dr. Karen Weyman, Chief of Family Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital
Linda Jackson, Senior Clinical Program Director for Primary and Community Care, St. Michael's Hospital

Dr. Karen Weyman, Chief of Family and Community Medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital, and Linda Jackson, Senior Clinical Program Director for Primary and Community Care, talk about how family practice is changing in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the hospital’s six family health team clinics are protecting patients, health-care providers and the community by conducting patient visits by phone or video conferencing wherever possible.

Featuring: Dr. Arthur Slutsky, Former Vice-President of Research, St. Michael's Hospital

Dr. Art Slutsky, one of the world’s leading experts on mechanical ventilation and acute respiratory distress syndrome, explains what ventilators do and why they’re essential to treat severely ill COVID-19 patients.

Featuring: Dr. Joel Lockwood, Emergency Physician and Trauma Team Leader, St. Michael’s Hospital
Dr. Paul Das, Family Medicine Physician, St. Michael’s Hospital

Dr. Paul Das, a family physician, and Dr. Joel Lockwood, an emergency physician and trauma team leader, share what it took to get the Assessment Centre up and running, how it works, who should go and when you should go directly to emergency instead.

Featuring: Dr. Carolyn Snider, Chief of Emergency Medicine, St. Michael’s Hospital

This week, Dr. Carolyn Snider, Chief of Emergency Medicine, talks about how life and procedures have changed in one of the country’s busiest emergency departments to get ready for the influx of COVID-19 cases, and the unsung heroes who are on the frontlines and behind of the scenes at St. Michael’s.

Featuring: Dr. Tom Ungar, Psychiatrist-in-Chief, St. Michael’s Hospital

This week, Dr. Tom Ungar, Psychiatrist-in-Chief, talks about how to maintain good mental health during a pandemic and what to do if you’re not coping. He also reminds us of the importance of “social connection” in an age of “physical (not social) distancing.”