Hospital says protests against pandemic measures 'demoralizing' for health-care staff

A Toronto hospital where protesters denouncing COVID-19 measures rallied Monday afternoon said such demonstrations are demoralizing for health-care workers who have cared for patients infected with the virus despite the risk to themselves and their families.

The University Health Network, which runs Toronto General Hospital, made the comments in a statement ahead of a number of protests expected to take place at hospitals across Canada on Monday. "To see protests in front of hospitals is demoralizing for all who work here but particularly for the staff who have cared for the people dying of COVID-19, often without all of their family and loved ones around them," the hospital network said. That sentiment was echoed by some doctors who stood outside the hospital as a crowd of protesters gathered nearby. Dr. Andrew Boozary, the executive director of social medicine at the University Health Network, said the event "feels like a moral gut punch" for those in a health-care system already grappling with burnout due to the pandemic.