Corporate Mandatory eLearning courses for 2025-2026 are now available. To access the LMS, click here.
Complete all learning assigned on your Progress Dashboard by December 31, 2025, to receive an additional ERW BIG PRIZE ballot for early completion!
We are providing advance notice that piling work will soon begin as part of the early stages of construction. This work will take place in phases, starting with an initial portion in the near future, followed by additional activity later in the construction schedule. Piling is a critical process used to establish a stable foundation for the new structure.
Work will take place on during regular working hours, and we will provide timely updates if there are any changes to the schedule or scope of this work.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support as we move through this important phase of the project.
Mental Health Awareness Week is happening May 5-9. Check out the poster below for details of the events taking place at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre throughout the week.
Minister Jill Dunlop is Ontario’s Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response, and MPP for Simcoe North.
On April 23rd, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre welcomed Jill Dunlop — Ontario’s Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response, and MPP for Simcoe North.
Minister Dunlop joined us for an opportunity to learn more about our Hospital’s emergency preparedness program and how it’s structured, the response framework, how we engage with community partners and regional hospitals, and our emergency code processes. Following the presentation, Minister Dunlop was provided with a tour of the facility, including brief stops in the Emergency Department and Ambulance Bay.
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) recently welcomed the media and others for a sneak peek at one of our Hospital’s newest technological additions.
The da Vinci Surgical System is a state-of-the-art robotic platform that helps perform less invasive surgeries. It allows surgeons to conduct complex operations through small incisions with enhanced precision and control.
This technology marks a significant step forward for our program, providing residents and faculty with advanced tools to perform minimally invasive surgeries accurately and efficiently. Notably, The da Vinci robot is the first of its kind in Northwestern Ontario and will allow patients at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) to receive even more exceptional care closer to home.
Some key benefits include:
Greater precision: The robotic system enhances visualization and dexterity, allowing meticulous nerve-sparing techniques.
Minimally invasive approach: Small incisions result in less blood loss, reduced pain, and faster recovery.
Shorter hospital stay: Most patients are discharged within 24 hours after surgery.
Faster recovery and fewer complications: Patients often experience a quicker return to daily activities and a lower risk of complications.
Da Vinci surgical systems comprise the surgeon console, patient-side cart, and vision cart. Here’s a breakdown:
Surgeon console: The surgeon console is where the surgeon sits during the procedure, controls the instruments and has a crystal-clear three dimensional, high definition view of the patient’s anatomy. The tiny instruments are “wristed” and move like a human hand but with a far greater range of motion.
Patient cart: The patient-side cart is positioned near the patient on the operating table. Here, the instruments used during the operation move in real-time in response to the surgeon’s hand movements at the surgeon console
Vision cart: The vision cart allows communication between the system’s components and provides a screen for the care team to view the operation.
Various surgical procedures can be performed using this robotic platform, including:
The implementation of the da Vinci Surgical System and the expertise of our talented urology team further establishes TBRHSC as a leading facility in minimally invasive surgeries, ensuring that our patients receive exceptional care and the most advanced treatment options available.
The da Vinci surgical robot has an estimated purchase price of up to $2.5 million. TBRHSC utilizes it on a pay-per-procedure basis, at an operating cost of approximately $600,000 per year.
While the da Vinci Robot unit was not purchased through the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation‘s donor raised funding, money from donors (including event participation and Foundation 50/50 supporters) was instrumental in helping to establish two new minimally invasive surgery (MIS)-ready sterilization units, as well as a specialized bed designed for MIS.
The instruments used with the da Vinci Robot are longer than standard instruments and did not fit our current sterilizers. TBRHSC’s Medical Device Reprocessing Department purchased two Ultrasonic washers to sterilize the new instruments.
Additionally, donor funds helped to purchase a specialized Operating Room bed to ensure the robotic system allowed patients to be positioned in a way that allowed the surgeon to operate while maintaining control during the surgery.
As we continue to acknowledge Be a Donor Month, the Northwest Regional Renal Program would like to highlight the impact of deceased donor kidney transplants for our patients.
A kidney transplant is the best form of treatment for most patients suffering from end stage kidney failure. When our patients do not have a potential living donor, the next transplant option is to be assessed, cleared, and then listed on the deceased donor kidney or kidney/pancreas list. There simply is not enough deceased donor organs to accommodate all patients in need of a kidney transplant. This would require our patients to be waiting for many years for a deceased donor kidney or kidney/pancreas. Some patients have to wait up to 10 years before they receive a kidney transplant. The patients have to be on dialysis before they are placed on the deceased donor list. This could mean many years of dialysis with each year increasing their chances of further health complications.
2024 Transplant recipients at Northwest Regional Renal Program:
2025 Transplant recipient so far:
We currently have 15 patients listed on the Ontario Deceased Donor Kidney Transplant List.
The Northwest Regional Renal Program is taking steps to increase access to kidney and kidney/pancreas transplant for our patients:
If you have not already registered, please consider being an organ donor. Sign up at beadonor.ca
Administrative Professionals Day (April 23) recognizes and celebrates the work of administrative assistants, executive assistants, clerks and other office professionals for their contributions to the workplace.
Thank you to all of the amazing administrative professionals at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute for your dedication, knowledge and hard work. Today, we celebrate YOU!
(…and thank you to the staff who submitted photos for today’s Daily Informed Newsletter)
As part of Administrative Professionals Week (April 20-26), we’re highlighting several clerks at our Hospital and the important work they do to help us deliver exceptional care to patients and families.
Agnes Gilliam has worked in Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC)’s Laboratory Department for 24 years as an Outpatient Clerk. She rotates her position between the Outpatient Lab and the Cancer Centre. She works closely with the units, physicians and nurses to ensure proper documentation of received samples, appropriate tests are ordered, and investigating outstanding lab results as well as various other tasks throughout the day. Agnes takes pride in her work and always takes the time to recognize her coworkers via the Thumbs Up blog.
Marcie Reinsalu has been a clerk in the Admitting and Registration Department for 12 years. In this role, she has been responsible for coordinating patient flow throughout the building, assigning beds to our Emergency and ICU patients, preparing occupancy reports for Senior Leadership, and attending Bed Rounds. Most recently, you can find Marcie at the front registration offices eager to check you in for your appointments around the building with a smiling face as the first point of contact for many of our patients.
Stacey Carruthers has been a clerk at TBRHSC for 13 years. For the last the 4.5 years she has been working for the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Surgical Clinical Reviewer. She follows patients on their surgical journey from pre-admission, intra-operative to post operative. She analyzes the data from these visits and reports her findings to the Surgical Quality and Improvement Team. Stacey works closely with surgeons, pharmacists, nurses and Infection Control to identify patient trends and improve patient outcomes. She enjoys collaborating with the other Ontario hospitals to create better patient experiences.
Every April 22, partners of all backgrounds come together to advance sustainability and climate action in commemoration of Earth Day.
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre’s Green Team is proud to be involved in the waste and energy reduction initiatives onsite which help reduce our Hospital’s environmental impact and carbon footprint. Our extensive recycling programs, in addition to our partnership with MEMO (Medical Equipment Modernization Opportunities) allow us to divert over 25% of our waste volumes from landfill and support developing nations in need of used medical equipment. Our Green Team also endorses other initiatives including introduction of paper straws; reduction in Styrofoam and single-use plastics; and other initiatives such as:
Starting May 1, 2025:
TBRHSC’s new Waste Management Contract has resulted in several steps to improve our source-separated waste recycling program and meet the requirements outlined in section 2(1) (d) of Regulation 103/94. Those efforts include:
Some ways you can participate in Earth Day:
