COVID cases are rising and the second wave of the pandemic is on the horizon. After nine months at the front, the staff is exhausted, there is a shortage of staff and the hospital is overflowing. The holiday season makes doctors fear the worst.

In January, the hospital is saturated. The holiday season accelerated community transmission of COVID. Doctors are crossing their fingers that the measures work and that the system holds up to avoid heartbreaking choices.

In the emergency room, Dr. Éric Gagnon deals with the continuing pandemic. Respiratory therapists are in extremely high demand and Stéphanie Goupil must be extremely efficient. Dr François Marquis keeps in mind that everything could still change.

When the news is less good, doctors nevertheless make it their duty to give fair and realistic hope to their patients: that of healing, improving their quality of life or ultimately, dying with dignity.

For Dr Luigi De Benedictis, supporting patients begins with reception. He must then guide them through a healing process which can be extremely long. Support takes many forms.

In emergency medicine, the ability to establish a human relationship and get the patient to confide in them is one of the beautiful facets of the profession, but also one of its great difficulties.

The doors open onto the captivating world of the nursing staff at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. The public meets doctors and professionals in their unusual daily lives, marked by great moments of emotion and humanity.

Some patients demonstrate resilience and manage to cope with their new situation. For others, the process of accepting the illness is more painful, particularly with regard to the loss of autonomy.

In the hospital, some topics are more difficult than others for patients and their doctors to discuss. Body image, mental illness, aging and death, among other things, often remain taboo.

Even weakened by their condition, patients are treated with dignity and humanity by doctors and the healthcare team, regardless of their illness, their chances of recovery or their social condition.

In medicine, instinct becomes a precious asset to go beyond objective signs alone. It develops with experience and often allows for better patient care and facilitates rapid decision-making.

The time factor plays a role in all departments of a hospital. Staff constantly navigate between the urgency of intervening in pressing situations and the need to slow down to listen to the patient.