Public health nurses to help Hamilton schools reopen

Hamilton's medical officer of health said the city's share of provincially funded nurses to help with school reopening works out to just shy of 20 nurses.

But how those nurses will be deployed to Hamilton's approximately 170 schools - and if they'll be hired in time for the start of school on Sept. 8 - isn't clear.

We're working hard to get people into those positions ... as you can imagine we want to have people there to support the schools as they reopen," said Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton's medical officer of health, during a news conference Tuesday.

The funding for the nurses was announced by the province in late July. Initially earmarking $50 million to hire 500 school-focused" nurses, they announced an additional $12.5 million (or another 125 nurses) on Wednesday.

The nurses are set to be tasked with providing rapid-response support" for schools in facilitating public health and preventive measures, according to the province.

Speaking to The Spectator on Thursday, Richardson said at least 19 nurses will work with educators on issues around" COVID-19.

That will include understanding personal protective equipment, infection prevention and infection control, as well as looking at the needs of families regarding information on the virus and their response.

(We'll) be working with principals, teachers, kids and their families, to (help them) understand best how to move forward in these times," said Richardson.

What the nurses won't be doing is clinical care, said Richardson.

The public health nurses won't be doing testing but will work as liaisons with public health on testing if and when cases are confirmed in schools.

They'll survey situations to see when testing might be needed and what kind of testing would work best, such as setting up mobile testing or pop-up assessment centres, she added.

They would be facilitating that testing," said Richardson. But, the actual swabbing will be done by somebody in the health-care system."

Richardson said she expected that the liaison role would also play out in case and contact management as well as outbreak management, but public health is still sorting out" those details, said Richardson.

A big chunk" of their jobs will be to help the school communities understand what is unfolding with the situation in Hamilton.

We've got a fair bit of transition to do fairly quickly," she said. There is a lot of pre-planning work ... as it unfolds, we'll experience how big of an effort this takes."

Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com