Paul Heinrich says morale at the North Bay Regional Health Centre is good despite the impact COVID-19 has had on the community and the province.
Heinrich took part in the 22nd Annual Osprey Links Golf Gala which took place on Wednesday at the Callander golf course.
The event is a fundraiser for cancer care at the North Bay Regional Health Centre.
"I can only comment on my perspective of morale but certainly, there is a calm, confident attitude amongst our team," noted Heinrich.
"It has actually been that way since the very beginning. In the early days, there was certainly a lot of uncertainties in society in general and that was no different for us and a lot more pressure because had the full impact happened that we might have expected it could have involved some very difficult, ethical dilemmas and decisions.
"We are very fortunate that we survived that and I would say that our team, in general, is just been through a very hard and challenging year."
More than 40 days have passed since the last COVID-19 infection was reported in the North Bay-Parry Sound District Health Unit region.
Despite all the protocols in place, Heinrich says the hospital was fortunate enough to keep offering cancer treatments during the pandemic.
"We diagnose about 1200 people with cancer each year," estimates Heinrich.
"I want to point out that at no time of the pandemic did the North Bay Regional Health Centre ever delay any cancer treatments and that cannot be said for all places and that is beyond many people's control but I am very proud of the fact that our surgical team kept everyone safe and made sure that those priority surgeries never ceased during the height of the pandemic."
