DISPATCHES FROM A FIELD HOSPITAL

SYNOPSIS

Dispatches from a Field Hospital tells the story of the pandemic through the correspondence between elderly COVID-19 patients and their loved ones.

The current pandemic has affected no other group more than the elderly and hit no place harder than nursing homes, with devastating outbreaks in many parts of the world. Windsor, Ontario has not been immune. In the documentary, we focus on the residents of Heron Terrace Long Term Care Home and their families.

In the spring of 2020, Herron Terrace had an outbreak of COVID-19 with 25 staff and 70 residences testing positive for the virus. The film director’s father, Morgan (Morrie) Gallagher, was one of them.

At the time, Windsor erected a MASH-style field hospital to isolate and treat elderly patients who tested positive for the virus – it becamethe first field hospital in Canada to treat COVID-19 patients.

Morrie and 49 of his fellow Heron Terrace residents were admitted to the field hospital.

Many of the patients, already suffering from physical and mental ailments, were thrown into a new reality -- an unfamiliar world surrounded by strangers in masks, gloves, and gowns. Without their loved ones to help in the transition, this new place could be frightening.

To fight back against confusion and despair, the staff at the field hospital provided each patient with an iPad and a telephone to keep in contact with their loved ones on the outside. For these patients, it was a lifeline.

And for the those on the outside with a husband, father, sister or mother battling the virus inside, not being able to hold their loved one’s hand through this illness was a particularly cruel and unprecedented aspect of this pandemic. Using Skype, facetime, phone calls, emails and letters, families stayed connected and hope and heartache shared.

The documentary also features the healthcare workers who had been working inside the field hospital -- from the doctors to the cleaning staff. It was these front-line workers who were the stand-ins for family members and in doing so stepped up to brush hair, dress and feed, entertain and, in the most difficult circumstances, hold the hand of a dying patient.

Dispatches from a Field Hospital documents several families’ stories through this difficult time, including the director’s own. Morrie’s daily phone conversations, skypes and audio letters with his wife of 53 years, Joan Gallagher, were all he had to look forward to.

Border City Pictures Presents “DISPATCHES FROM A FIELD HOSPITAL”
Director & Shooter MATT GALLAGHER
Producer CORNELIA PRINCIPE Editor ROBERT SWARTZ cce 
Music OHAD BENCHETRIT & JUSTIN SMALL Associate Producer PAT JEFLYN
Location Sound DAVE DRAPER Story Editor NICK HECTOR bfe cce 
Sound Edit GRANT EDMONDS Colourist AJ McLAUCHLIN 
For TVO Independent Production Officer LINDA FONG Executive Producer JANE JANKOVIC

Produced in Association with TVO, 
with the Participation of Canada Media Fund, 
and with the Assistance of Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, 
Ontario Creates Tax Credit Program