Scroll down to see a collection of our best photos from 2021.
Matthew Manor
Credit
Scroll down to see a collection of our best photos from 2021.

Each year, our editorial team works to find and tell stories about the people, as well as the amazing care that takes place at KHSC. Unsurprisingly, like every aspect of our lives, our year at KHSC was dominated by COVID-19 and our efforts to not only slow the spread of the virus but to care for those who became seriously ill.

As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and a feature of our storytelling are the images we capture to illustrate our everyday actions, significant moments and exciting breakthroughs. Of the thousands of pictures we took in 2021, these are some of our best.

No part of KHSC was untouched by Ontario's COVID-19 third wave response effort and the Critical Care team at our KGH site was particularly involved in the provincial response. They received multiple COVID ICU patient transfers daily and care teams worked tirelessly to support their patients and each other.

With rising numbers of COVID-19 cases across the province, KHSC pitched in to the province-wide effort to increase ICU capacity and in early April started receiving patients from the GTA, including those who were transferred by a custom and highly specialized paramedic bus, capable of transferring multiple patients at once.

January 12th was a special day not just at KHSC, but for all those in the southeast region of Ontario as the very first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrive at the KGH site loading dock for receipt by our pharmacy staff to process and prepare for distribution.

Nanette Isaac, an employee from Extendicare in Kingston was the very first person in the southeastern region to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at the KHSC clinic, as part of the province-wide vaccination campaign.

Window washers from Elite Window Cleaning made another super appearance at KHSC to bring smiles and cheer to some of our youngest patients. This annual event is always a big hit with patients, their family members and our staff. 

With the COVID-19 pandemic third wave becoming a reality and the deadly nature of the Delta variant, Ornge Air Ambulance transfers became a very regular sight in the skies above the Kingston area as KHSC received multiple patient transfers by helicopter daily.

Aleko Tasevski was a KHSC patient who was transferred to Kingston's ICU from the GTA for care and treatment of a serious COVID-19 infection during the height of the third wave. Making progress, Aleko eventually made his way to the new inpatient unit on Johnson 3 at our HDH site before making a full recovery and being discharged into the arms to his waiting family who were eager to take him home. 

In November, surgical teams perform the first procedure in our new Hybrid-OR, that incorporates highly specialized imaging technology right in the operating room. The $2.8 million space is now one of the most advanced operating rooms in the world.

Santa made a special trip to KHSC to visit with pediatric patients and their families with a little help from the 438 Tactical Helicopter Squadron and 1 Wing Headquarters at CFB Kingston. Santa arrived with some Canadian Air Force elves on a CF146 Griffon helicopter while his sleigh was back at the north pole getting ready for his big trip on December 24th.  

In just a few short years, surgical teams in Kingston have leapfrogged their peers, becoming the highest volume robotic colorectal surgery program in the country. Here surgeon Dr. Sunil Patel prepares KHSC's da Vinci robotic operating system for a procedure on a patient with colorectal cancer.