Super service at LGH

I sometimes hear and read negative comments about the Lakeshore General Hospital.

My experience, however, has been very different and if you would allow me to use your newspaper to do so, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the staff of the hospital with which I came in contact during my recent two months stay, due to a super bug (staphylococcus aureus)

Not only were they competent and hard working, they were also dedicated and caring. I won’t name any one in particular for fear of forgetting someone, and they all deserve my gratitude.

From the orderlies who took me to numerous tests, by gurneys or wheelchairs, to the technicians, all trying to make me as comfortable as possible during those tests, to the ward orderlies who helped me in a thousand ways .

The nurses were also wonderful, so gentle they oftentimes gave me intravenous medication without even waking me up. The medication was explained to me in a way I could understand and the reason for every change in medication was also given to me. One nurse in particular thought of my situation one night at home; it resulted in a small change of procedure from which I benefited greatly. For a while, a dietician came after every meal to see if I was eating and if not why. She constantly made changes to my diet until my blood test showed that I was getting what the doctors were looking for. The therapist also deserves my thanks, for her patience and dedication. So many times she came, and no sooner had we started to exercise; I had to go for a test of some kind. She never gave up, coming back as often as she could, taking into account the number of patients that needed her help.

I had several specialists looking after me; even some from other hospitals were consulted. Those came late at night; I can only assume they came after their days work, on their way home. The two lead doctors were genuinely concerned coming by several times a day, the last time late at night. I believe they came on their days off to check upon me and probably other patients. I could feel their concern by the way they constantly probed about my health, by the way they tried to reassure my wife and by their reaction to my progress.

Judging from my experience at the Lakeshore, if there is a problem with the health care system it is not due to the way the medical staff in general perform their duties, but rather to the fact that no matter how much they try, there is just too few of them.

Victor Raymond, Pierrefonds