Celebrating our Screening Team
If you have come through the doors of St. Mary’s in the last two years, then you have probably seen or talked to one of our fantastic screening team members. Shortly after the pandemic hit in 2020, a new position was added to the St. Mary’s team to help ensure the safety of our staff, patients, volunteers, and Care Partners. This team is comprised of about 25 individuals, many of whom are university students looking to pursue an education and career in a healthcare-related field.
The main responsibility of our screening team is to engage with all patients and visitors, ask them a standard set of COVID screening questions and validate vaccination status for Care Partners by scanning their QR code. Our screeners are one of our first line of defenses in keeping everyone at St. Mary’s safe.
St. Mary’s has a number of screening teams at our many entrances. For our Front Lobby team, if the screening criteria is met, screeners will help direct anyone coming into the hospital so they know where to go next. The same thing is done with Care Partners who are also provided with a sticker that identifies them as such. Information collected by our screeners is also vital for contact tracing. When a Care Partner comes in to see an inpatient, they are directed to the screening staff at the Welcome Desk, who verify that they are on the list of approved Care Partners. Once that information is confirmed, they are approved and can make their way up to visit their loved one.
For the team in the Emergency Department, the process is fairly similar, however, if patients coming in are accompanied by an unvaccinated individual, they are triaged by a nurse and if specific criteria are met, will be allowed to stay as a Care Partner while in the ED.
Each screening team plays an integral role at St. Mary’s in helping to keep everyone safe as well as being a resource for our staff, patients and Care Partners throughout the hospital.
When our volunteers weren’t here, the screening team also took on the responsibility of helping escort and guide patients and Care Partners to wherever they needed to be in the hospital and connected individuals with our Patient Relations Team to support virtual visits. The screening team truly does whatever it takes to make sure the journey is welcoming, supportive and safe and embraces the compassionate care that St. Mary’s is known for.
“As we start to see mandates lift and a shift in the way COVID is approached, it is a challenging time for our screening team,” says Lynn, Screening Team Lead. “However, despite all of that, and everything that they have been faced with over the last two years, this team has shown nothing but kindness, empathy, and compassion for every single person who comes through the doors of St. Mary’s. It truly brings tears to my eyes to see what this team does daily and the resiliency that they have continued to demonstrate.”
This team are some of the first faces that patients and Care Partners see when they enter St. Mary’s. They are at the frontline of answering questions and concerns, and throughout it all, they always have a smile (behind the masks) for everyone.
“The screeners have been an integral part of the safety measures initiated at pandemic onset,” says Kathleen, Director, ED, Chest and ICC. “With the constant changes and the speed at which these changes have occurred over the last two years, this team has remained flexible, adaptable and patient-centred, often during periods of heightened emotions. As the first point of entry to the hospital, the screeners ensure the safety of our organization while embodying the mission, vision and values of St. Mary's, setting the tone for a positive patient/Care Partner experience.”
When you see one of our amazing screening team members, please take a minute to say “hi” and thank them for everything they do here at St. Mary’s.