Informing and overcoming: Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang’s personal pandemic pivot
Her deliberate and methodical approach to navigating the pandemic has become familiar to Waterloo region residents.
What most people don’t know is Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang dreaded the spotlight and pushed aside her fear of public speaking to handle the public health crisis.
In an interview with CTV Kitchener, Dr. Wang explained she had a stutter growing up.
“People would hang up on me,” she said. “I couldn't get the words out over the phone. In person, they would walk away. You know they'd find it very funny and laugh.”
She said she never expected she’d end up having to speak publicly on a daily basis.
“That would have just scared me out of my mind,” she said.
Despite still struggling with a stutter, the demands of the pandemic overshadowed her speech concerns.
“It helped focus my energy on things I thought people would appreciate even if I wasn’t very smooth at speaking,” she explained.
A BREAKING POINT
Dr. Wang said for the first year of the pandemic, she regularly worked 16 to 18 hours per day.
“It was a difficult and unsustainable pace to be honest,” she said.
She said her breaking point came when Waterloo Region was not getting its fair share of the COVID-19 vaccine last year during the initial rollout.
“I didn’t even see it coming, but I broke down,” she said.
“I felt kind of like ‘I don’t know what to do,’” she continued. “With help from others I got over that.”
Asking for help and taking a break were things Dr. Wang said she had to adjust to.
“What I’ve discovered is that people want to help and those that are able to will,” she said.
Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang and her husband pose with a replica Millennium Falcon. (Submitted)
“If I don't take a real break, my brain will take a fake one and then I will be of no use to anybody,” she said, adding by overworking herself, she’s also setting a poor example.
Frequently during the pandemic, Dr. Wang thought of her late mentor Dr. Sheela Basrur. As Toronto’s medical officer of health, Dr. Basrur led the province through the SARS crisis. She went on to become Ontario’s medical officer of health from 2004 to 2006.
“What I learned from Dr. Basrur the most was the importance of trying to do the right thing and having integrity… the other things will fall into place,” Dr. Wang said.
Dr. Basrur died of cancer at the age of 51 in 2008 at Grand River Regional Cancer Centre in Kitchener.
“I have thought about what would Sheela do? How did she do in the past? And what can I learn from that,” said Dr. Wang.
LEARNING TO REST
Now, when she wants to escape, Dr. Wang says she turns to some of her favourite TV shows or movies.
“I am a big Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic Universe Geek,” she said. “My favourite show recently has been the Mandalorian and as my colleagues know I'm a big baby Yoda fan.”
Her husband also recently encouraged her to get into cycling, which she has come to enjoy.
LOOKING AHEAD
While she said it's still essential people continue to adhere to public health measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, Dr. Wang believes the emergency phase of the pandemic is over. She considers this time a “breather period” and a chance to catch up on other public health issues, like childhood immunizations, that have been on pause.
“There's always work that we have to do, but yeah we are trying to pace ourselves,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Humanist group threatening to sue Vancouver over council prayers
The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.
LHSC performs a Canadian first in robot-assisted direct lateral spine surgery
Spine surgery may never be the same for people with chronic back pain and other physical ailments.