Dear Editor,
 

I鈥檓 a retired anesthesiologist who wore the injured patient cap and gown this weekend.

I can鈥檛 praise and thank enough the health care and compassion I received from the whole team at North Island Hospital Comox Valley this Friday and Saturday. It is all too easy for patients not to recognize the integral role of the non-medical staff, including reception staff in the Emergency Department, porters, multiple X-ray technicians, ECG technicians, lab personnel, and cleaners.

In the OR (operating room), the anesthesia assistant was super. The nursing staff in each department were uniformly attentive, caring and compassionate and cheery. They informed me of plans and sequence of events as they could. The four physicians who attended me were so pleasant (despite it being a summer weekend) and professional. The whole experience had a deliciously positive vibe. 

I worked for many years in places where that positivity was often lacking. I count myself extremely fortunate to live here. Many people complain about our health care system but I look to the people here who provide the care, and my experience was nothing short of brilliant.

This was a very big team working together, in a positive way to help one person through a trying time.

Thank you so much.
Julia Charles

Courtenay