The Delhi Family Health Team goes mobile during COVID, providing compassionate care to Seasonal Agricultural Workers Healthcare Change Makers

For this special series HIROC is partnering with the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO) to highlight the work of several amazing primary healthcare teams.
In this episode we speak with Robin Mackie, Executive Director, Delhi Family Health Team; Roxanne Pierssens-Silva, Clinical Services Manager/RPN, Delhi Family Health Team; and Rebecca Spencer-Knight, Nurse Practitioner, Delhi Family Health Team.
Migrant workers constitute a large portion of the workforce in rural Haldimand, Norfolk and Brant Counties. In Haldimand-Norfolk, there are 204 farms that hire and house over 3,300 Seasonal Agricultural Workers (SAW). The Delhi Family Health Team has traditionally provided primary care services to the workers and were the first people called when a case of COVID was reported. Within hours they transitioned to a fully-functional mobile care team. And they never looked back.
Using their cars, cell phones, and as much equipment and supplies as they could carry, Robin, Roxanne and Rebecca attended to the physical, mental and emotional needs of the workers who were isolated, spoke a different language, and were far from home.
The experience of providing low-tech care in an unpredictable environment reminded the team of why they became nurses in the first place and the importance of looking out for each other.
Quotables
“There were a lot of barriers this year for the agricultural workers being able to access primary care.” – RPS
“Within 20 minutes, I was on the phone calling my team and saying, ‘Can we start going out to these farms in the next couple of hours?’ I had no doubt that the team was going to respond in a positive way.” – RM
 
“My role as the Executive Director was to make sure that this team felt safe and that they were well before anything else so they could provide the great service they did to these workers.” – RM
 
“We were out there knowing that at any point in time if I needed supplies, if I needed support, if I needed just a phone call, I had people available to me at any time of day.” – RSK
 
“It’s amazing when you’re in something as big as this, how things just seem to fall into place.” – RPS
 
“By offering accurate information, by reassuring them about their care, and being there for them on an emotional basis as well, we were really able to enhance their ability to heal, their ability to cope with the isolation they were going through at that time.” – RSK
 
“The admin side we have to do now is taking away from that emotional, hands-on nursing that most of us got into healthcare for.” – RPS
 
“We put safety first, we put our workers first, we put our patients first and then we moved forward.” – RM
 
 
Mentioned in this Episode:
AFHTO Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario
Delhi Family Health Team
Migrant workers from Trinidad and Tobago stuck in Haldimand-Norfolk
 
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