“It feels really good to be acknowledged,” says Dave McMartin, case manager, but he prefers to think of the compliment as directed to the entire Strathcona Mental Health team and their VGH partners in care.
Like librarians, we like to keep good info in circulation — especially when it involves compliments to our colleagues. Last week, a downtown librarian emailed VCH to praise a staff member of our Strathcona Mental Health Centre. Here’s what the librarian had to say:
I referred an elderly gent to the Strathcona Mental Health Team last week. After a phone call, they agreed they could see him as a drop-in.
[The person] was very distressed and disoriented. He had been everywhere…got no useful help, etc. He came back today and said he was very well treated and got useful help (from Dave) right away.
Kudos to Dave.
Dave, as it turns out, is Dave McMartin, a case manager who remembers the patient well. “I was interviewing him,” Dave recalls, “and while we were still in the interview room, he fainted.”
As the patient was in transit to hospital, Dave called the psychiatric triage nurse at VGH who in turn alerted the Geriatric Rapid Access team to ensure a seamless transition. Fortunately, the patient was able to return home and even returned to the Strathcona Centre for a GP referral the next day.
“It feels really good to be acknowledged,” says Dave, but this patient’s story, he insists, demonstrates he’s not the only one deserving of praise. “I like to think the compliment should be directed to the entire Strathcona team and our VGH partners,” he says. “It’s a reflection of our intake process and efficiency, and the events show how equipped we area to provide a continuum of care from the community to hospital.”
We couldn’t agree more. Our thanks to all for putting people first.