ED HOBDAY
recieves national honour for lifetime of dedication to Sask. doctors
NEW TIMES, NEW ROLES Pictured above, L-R: Dr. John Gjevre, Dr. Eben Strydom, Dr. Myles Deutscher By Greg Basky During the COVID-19 pandemic, Saskatchewan’s healthcare system has faced unprecedented pressure to be flexible and adapt. Physicians from around the province have risen to the challenge, taking on different roles to provide care where they’re needed most. Meet three doctors who worked in new ways this spring.
Return to ICU When he shifted gears from critical care to sleep medicine five years ago, Dr. John Gjevre figured he’d never again set foot in an intensive care unit. However, when the pandemic struck, he was called back into action by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA). Gjevre rapidly pivoted from interpreting polysomnograms on a computer screen at Saskatoon City Hospital’s sleep disorders lab to running an ICU. He returned to his regular duties in July. While the ICU shifts were not something he ever anticipated, Dr. Gjevre says he was glad to be able to help out where the need was greatest in that moment, and to reconnect with old friends. “It has been great to work with such dedicated and cheerful individuals again,” he said.
He had to brush up on dosages for less common drugs and get used to staying up all night again, but added “you just don’t forget how to do things like intubation or central lines.” While seconded by the SHA, he spent half his time providing daytime and nighttime coverage of Saskatoon ICUs, and the other half carrying on his research, teaching, and administration – the latter two by Webex or Zoom. “We responded to the urgent need and that’s what was most important,” said Dr. Gjevre, whose other clinical work is based at RUH’s outpatient sleep clinic. He was concerned, however, about his sleep patients, many of whom suffer from severe chronic conditions – including obstructive sleep apnea, pulmonary hypertension, and obesity hypoventilation syndrome – and is glad to be back doing sleep medicine. “Those things did not go away for these patients. I could provide some therapy for a while virtually, but I worried that their care needs were not being fully met.”
Part of the P.A. team In the early days of the pandemic, the Saskatchewan Health Authority approached Melfort GP anesthetist Dr. Eben Strydom and colleagues about supporting Prince Albert’s relatively small anesthesia team. At that point, the SHA was anticipating a potential surge of COVID-19 patients and
SMA DIGEST | FALL 2020
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