It may not be top of mind during a pandemic, but public facilities like washrooms, lobbies, and seating areas were among the first places made inaccessible during the COVID-19 pandemic and this produced serious consequences. Individuals waiting for patients at the hospital or even those experiencing homelessness and who are in the hospital neighborhoods may depend on these spaces for warm or cool places to rest (depending on the weather), restrooms, compassionate welcoming, and other purposes. It begs the question, where do these individuals find washroom facilities? Where does a person who does not have a working shower go to perform their basic hygiene routine? Where do family members wait while family members are attended to? While the closure of these spaces denied a potential avenue for the pandemic to spread, it may also have come with significant cost to human dignity.
Kingston Health Sciences Centre, while under restrictions to its site, made the brave and compassionate decision to provide washrooms accessible to families awaiting their loved ones seeking care and those in the downtown core. Four portapotties are now available (two at each site and closest to each of the two sites’ patient entrance points) and are being cleaned and serviced on a daily basis to minimize the risk of virus transfer. This involved the allocation of minimal resources to afford people (equity-seeking and otherwise) their inherent dignity. The hospital is continuing to explore partnerships with other service providers in the downtown core to ensure this mission of compassion for the most vulnerable continues even during times of significant restriction due to a pandemic. The decision to preserve the dignity of some for their necessities turned out to be good for everyone. It would be easy to measure our compassion for how well we take care of those in our scope of practice, but perhaps we should measure our compassion in how we provide and preserve the dignity of the most marginalized. As the Health Equity team, we call upon you to find ways to explore every avenue to provide for the needs of folks travelling from far for medical care or the homeless, or groups that require the presence of translators to optimize their care. By being prepared, and making the investments to do so safely, we can continue to provide the high standard of care and empathy for those in our care.
*Author’s Note: Eleftherios is a Health Education Research Consultant with the Office of Professional Development. This story comes from our consultations with executives in our hospital system and community stakeholders. Special thanks to Elizabeth Bardon, Vice President Mission & Strategy Integration and Support Services for her background information on this story.