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489Risking
It All: Providing Patient Care and Whistleblowing During a Pandemic
Thousands of health care providers around the world are working
tirelessly on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis. Their critical
roles as care providers and as whistleblowers have dominated news
headlines. Health care workers are being called upon to care for infected
patients, to work outside their usual specialties,1 and to make difficult
decisions about patient care.2 Many are placing their health and lives at
risk to combat this pandemic. Health care workers make up nearly 16%
of Ontario’s COVID-19 cases.3 Many of them have also played critical
roles as whistleblowers—raising the alarm to the rapid spread of the
virus and identifying unethical and illegal responses to the pandemic.
In this chapter, we briefly address the dual roles health care
workers have played during the COVID-19 crisis. In the first part, we
address the rights and responsibilities of health care providers who
are on the front lines caring for patients. We also discuss the responsi-
bilities that health care employers and governments owe to our health
care providers. In the second part, we highlight the critical role these
workers have played as whistleblowers during the pandemic and
advocate for stronger whistleblower protection.
Ensuring Safe and High-Quality Patient Care
The Rights and Responsibilities of Health Care Providers to Provide Care
Health care providers are a diverse group and include a wide range
of workers, including nurses, technicians, personal support workers
(PSWs), and physicians. These workers differ in many ways. For exam-
ple, they may be categorized as unionized or non-unionized; employees
or independent contractors; full-time, part-time, or casual employees;
and they may be members of a regulated health care profession or not.
1. Melanie Grayce West, “New York City Hospitals Face New Strain: Not Enough
Workers”, The Wall Street Journal (24 March 2020), online: <https://www.wsj.
com/articles/new-york-city-hospitals-face-new-strain-not-enough-work-
ers-11585059601>.
2. Peter Walker, “London Covid-19 Doctor Says Soon Staff Will Be Forced to Choose
Whose Life to Save”, The Guardian (23 March 2020), online: <https://www.the-
guardian.com/world/2020/mar/23/london-covid-19-doctor-staff-choose-whose-
life-to-save>.
3. OCHU CUPE, “Ontario Health Care Worker Infections Jump 43.5 per cent in
8 days, COVID-19 Protections, Transmission Advice Inadequate: CUPE Media
Release” (6 May 2020), online: OCHU CUPE <https://ochu.on.ca/2020/05/06/
ontario-health-care-worker-infections-jump-43-5-per-cent-in-8-days-covid-
19-protections-transmission-advice-inadequate-cupe/>.
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Title
- VULNERABLE
- Subtitle
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Authors
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Publisher
- Ottawa Press
- Date
- 2020
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Size
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Pages
- 648
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- International