Media Release
Aug. 12, 2022 – Collaboration, unity and support are three pillars of a tight-knit community. When neighbours get together to protect and work with each other, the community benefits and the population can see, firsthand, the effects of co-operation, compassion and support.
It’s in this light the Grey Bruce Health Unit would like to acknowledge the dedicated, collaborative efforts of the Peninsula Family Health Team (Peninsula FHT) to achieve exceptionally high COVID-19 vaccination rates among their patient roster and safeguard the community during the pandemic.
In collaboration with Public Health, the Peninsula FHT, led by a small group of physicians and Executive Director Pamela Loughlean, rolled out a mass vaccination effort that has enabled the team to provide a two-dose vaccine series to 96 per cent of eligible patients and first boosters to 90 per cent of eligible patients. Nearly 75 per cent of eligible patients have now received a second booster.
“The Peninsula Family Health Team is to be commended for their exemplary work to vaccinate as much of their patient roster as possible and implement mitigation measures during the pandemic. This is a great example of what can be achieved when Public Health and Primary Care physicians work together on a common goal,” says Grey-Bruce Medical Officer of Health Dr. Ian Arra.
The Peninsula FHT, which has more than 5,000 patients, has held more than 121 COVID-19 vaccine clinics – large and small – since March 2021.
To support the clinics, Public Health prioritized vaccine supply, adjusted based on the rural nature of the peninsula, and provided cold-chain support, infection prevention and control support and training for the COVaxON Vaccination Management System.
“It’s hard to believe that our first vaccine clinic on the Bruce Peninsula was March 17, 2021. So much has happened around the world and in our community due to the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 500 days. Since that first vaccination day, the Peninsula FHT hasn’t stopped vaccinating our patients and the community at large, all while continuing to keep both of our primary care clinic sites open and available to our patients in need of care. We added an essential, critical and time-sensitive job on top of our regular day-to-day responsibilities, and none of this would have been possible without the dedicated and committed physicians and staff of the Peninsula FHT along with volunteers recruited from the community,” says Loughlean.
In the early days of the pandemic, Peninsula FHT board chair Dr. Jonathan Thomas facilitated the creation of a field hospital in a Northern Bruce Peninsula school. Knowing the tiny Lion’s Head hospital could accommodate only four to six patients, he contacted GBHU to discuss the idea after learning of three other field hospitals in Grey-Bruce.
Public Health supported Dr. Thomas with the legislative authority to collaborate with Bluewater District School Board to utilize the Bruce Peninsula District School gym as a field hospital site. The temporary facility had beds and medical supplies at the ready and the team worked with the Tobermory Hyperbaric Facility to source oxygen. Thankfully, the field hospital was not needed.
Recently, the Peninsula FHT received two community recognitions for their efforts. In June, it received a certificate recognizing age-friendly initiatives on the Bruce Peninsula, supported by the Council on Aging Grey Bruce and sponsored by the Northern Bruce Peninsula Community Support Advisory. The recognition highlighted the age-friendly initiative of the Peninsula FHT to maintain excellent health care on the peninsula by providing the COVID-19 vaccinations’ and boosters’ clinics to keep residents safe.
Last week, Pamela Loughlean was recognized as one of 70 local recipients of a commemorative coin celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee from MP Alex Ruff in recognition of her efforts to keep the community safe and healthy during COVID.
When you bring good people together and they are united in a common goal, great things can be achieved. The Peninsula FHT is a shining example of this.
