GUELPH – City Hall’s Market Square turned blue on May 1 to show appreciation for Ontario’s frontline healthcare workers and to celebrate the 10th annual Doctor’s Day and the #ShineALightForThem campaign.
Since 2011, each year on May 1, Ontarians celebrate medical workers’ dedication to their patients.
With this year falling in the midst of the pandemic, the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) reached out to different landmarks including the CN Tower and Niagara Falls to partake.
Guelph’s City Hall also agreed to participate in the event.
“It’s really a reflection of knowing that Ontario’s doctors have been leading healthcare transformation since before the pandemic began and are leading communities and patients through this pandemic and hopefully out of this pandemic,” stated Dr. Samantha Hill, OMA president.
She explained the event aims to acknowledge it’s been a tough year for everyone, especially those working in healthcare.
“It’s hard, it’s really hard,” Hill said. “That’s why it’s so important right now that physicians know that their communities support them and know that their efforts are not invisible.”
This marks the second year during the pandemic for Doctors Day, a major milestone according to Julia Costanzo, communications and marketing member for the OMA.
“We know doctors have been working non-stop,” Costanzo explained. “This event is a way for Ontario to show appreciation for their extremely hard work.”
OMA invited people across Ontario to show their appreciation and support for their community by shining a light with phones, flashlights or candles at 9pm for five minutes.
Ontarians were also encouraged to acknowledge medical workers on social media, sharing the hashtags #DoctorsDay and #ShineALightForThem and pledging their support for their local doctors at doctorsday.ca.
For Hill, the hope is the event brings awareness and people are appreciative of the toll that it’s taken on those working the frontlines.
For the healthcare workers, it’s important to know their communities support them and recognize the efforts they have taken, especially during the pandemic.
“It’s one of the few things that people can do to make doctors lives a little easier right now,” Hill explained, noting that while people can’t physically go in and help, what they can do is let them know that they are appreciated.
“This is something that everyone can do to really nod to the difficult decisions, the hard work, the efforts, the risks that physicians have taken to ensure that families and communities are protected, are safe and are getting the care that they need.”
