Several groups have come together to make sure patients at the field hospital for Windsor Regional Hospital are still connected with loved ones.
Sterling Fuels, the Windsor Port Authority and Transition to Betterness have donated 55 iPads to the hospital, so that patients at the field hospital at St. Clair College can communicate with family, and for entertainment purposes.
The elderly patients have tested positive for COVID-19 and have been moved there from long-term care homes and retirement homes, to minimize the spread of the virus.
The patients are not allowed to have any visitors.
Speaking on AM800's the Afternoon News, Director of Public Affairs at the Windsor Regional Hospital Foundation, Gisele Seguin, says these patients are isolated and see only hospital staff in masks and gowns.
She points out human connection and entertainment, to be able to watch TV, is very important for a patient's well-being.
Seguin says these patients don't interact with a lot of people during the day.
"You are kinda in a very isolated area, you are only seeing staff with masks. So again very important and we are so grateful to Sterling Fuels," she says.
Seguin says the iPads will also allow patients to watch TV and to play games.
"We have always joked that we could do a lot of other things medically, right? But if a patient's TV Isn't working, then it's a problem. It's an important part of the patient experience," she adds.
MNSi also provided streaming services at no cost to allow the iPads to work for dozens of patients.
There is no cost to Windsor Regional Hospital, patients, or families for the 55 iPads and the streaming service.