Shared on behalf of Jennifer Wintermans, VP, Quality & Corporate Affairs

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I am pleased to announce Katherine (Kati) Tuomi has accepted the position of Manager, Diagnostic Imaging & Diagnostic Administration that includes CT, Mammography, General & Interventional Radiology, MRI, Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine & Clerical, effective September 9, 2024.

Kati has been serving as interim Manager of Diagnostic Imaging since July 1, 2024 and at that time was also designated the Radiation Safety Officer. In this manager role, Kati will provide leadership and oversight while creating an environment that fosters creativity, innovation and excellence in patient care, in addition to ensuring that all aspects of quality and safety are adhered to in the Diagnostic Imaging department.

Kati holds a Master’s in Health Administration from the University of Regina, as well as an advanced diploma in Nuclear Medicine from The Michener Institute for Applied Health Science and a Bachelor of Science in Medical Radiation Sciences from the University of Toronto. Kati has been with Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre since November 2015 and held the positions of Charge Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT Technologist and Registered Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT Technologist. Through volunteer roles with the Ontario Association of Medical Radiation Sciences (OAMRS), Kati has actively contributed to the advancement of the medical radiation community and is a strong advocate for the Medical Radiation Technologist profession.

Please join me in congratulating Kati in her permanent leadership role within the organization.

Mike Sharma, Interim Director, Diagnostic Imaging will continue to support strategic and director oversight as we work towards finalizing a permanent structure within the portfolio and division of modalities. Further communication will be forthcoming once positions are finalized and the recruitment process is conducted for Diagnostic Imaging leadership.

Shared on behalf of Adam Vinet, Vice President, Patient Experience, Chief Nursing Executive & Regional Vice President, Regional Cancer Care and Jeannine Verdenik, Vice President, People & Culture

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We would like to announce that Volunteer Services will be realigned from the People and Culture Portfolio to the Patient and Family Care (PFCC) portfolio. We believe that having Volunteer Services as part of the PFCC portfolio will enhance the impact of our volunteer programs, patient family advisory program, and overall PFCC.

Key Benefits:

1. Collaborative Recruitment Efforts: By combining resources and strategies, we can more effectively reach equity-deserving groups, and expand our volunteer, Patient Family Advisor (PFA) and Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) base to better reflect our community and organizational program needs.
   
2. Improved Training and Development: All volunteers, including PFA and HELP would have access to the same standardized onboarding process and training as well as additional training depended on the stream or streams of volunteerism they are interested in.
   
3. Elimination of Redundancy: Integrating all volunteer streams will eliminate duplication of initiatives, making our departmental process more efficient and focused.
   
4. Enhanced Coordination: Better able to identify through a single recruitment and onboarding process the interests of potential volunteers so that new volunteers are aligned with projects and roles that are of interest to them including becoming a PFA or HELP volunteer.
   
5. Strengthened Patient and Family-Centred Care: Ensure that volunteer efforts are directly contributing to our goal of providing holistic, compassionate care.

Moving forward Megan Valente Coordinator Volunteer Services will report to Shannon Schiffer, Manager PFCC, Patient Experience, Engagement and Advocacy. The HELP program will remain with Cardiovascular Medicine & Renal Program; and Volunteer Services will continue to collaborate with the HELP Coordinator to identify and align volunteers with their program.

At this time the operation of Seasons Gift Shop reporting through the Volunteer Association will be remain with the VP People and Culture.

All staff are welcome to join us for a hands-on tobacco tie workshop.

This workshop will include traditional teachings about the significance and sacredness of tobacco.

Date: Monday, September 16, 2024
Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Location: Volunteer Services Room #2007

Registration is required for this event. Click here to register.

We look forward to you joining us for this important event.

For more information, please contact Annette Klement, Cultural Safety Educator at: TBRHSC.CulturalSafetyEducator@tbh.net.

Click here, to find out what else is happening at our Hospital this month in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The iCare Impact Awards program is open to all employees, professional staff, Patient Family Advisors, and volunteers of Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute. It provides a forum for peer-to-peer recognition of positive impacts on our patients and their families. 

Nominate now for 2024 to recognize a peer and for a chance to win exciting monthly participation prizes! https://icare-awards.tbrhsc.net/.

Shared on behalf of Nutrition and Food Services

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Please be advised that the following oral nutrition supplements have undergone name changes;

1. Ensure Pro Max has changed to Ensure Advance.
2. Boost Diabetic has changed to Boost Carb Smart (listed in Meditech as Boost LoCarb).

In addition, Boost Juice has been replaced with Ensure Clear.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Nutrition and Food Services at 807-684-6725.

Each year, living donor transplants save the lives of hundreds of Canadians awaiting a liver or kidney transplant. Living organ donation offers a shorter pathway to better health with a less wait time and better health outcomes than a deceased donor transplant. Yet many Canadians are not aware of living organ donation.

Living Donation Week (September 8-14) is a national awareness week focused on improving access and equity in living organ donation. This Week invites the living donor and transplant community to come together, celebrate and spread the word about this life-changing gift, and everyone who makes it possible. Launched by the Centre for Living Organ Donation at UHN in 2020, Living Donation Week is now celebrated annually across Canada and beyond, starting the Sunday after Labour Day.

To learn more about living kidney donation in Northwestern Ontario, contact Stacy Heerema, Access to Living Kidney Transplant/Donor Coordinator for Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre at 807-684-6164.

World Patient Safety Day is an opportunity to raise awareness and foster collaboration between patients, health workers, policymakers and health care leaders to improve patient safety.  Each year, a new theme is selected to highlight a priority patient safety area needing urgent and concerted action. This year the theme is Improving diagnosis for patient safety with the slogan Get it right, make it safer!, which highlights the critical importance of correct and timely diagnosis in ensuring patient safety and improving health outcomes.

Diagnostic safety can be significantly improved by addressing the systems-based issues and cognitive factors that can lead to diagnostic errors. Systemic factors are organizational vulnerabilities that are likely to lead to diagnostic errors, including communication failures between health workers or health workers and patients, heavy workloads, and ineffective teamwork.  Cognitive factors involve clinician training and experience as well as predisposition to biases, fatigue and stress.

On Tuesday, September 17, 2024, the Health Standards Organization (HSO) and Accreditation Canada join the global community in celebrating World Patient Safety Day with a special virtual event focused on improving diagnosis for patient safety.  Quality & Risk Management encourage you to be a part of this crucial conversation driving the future of patient safety.  Register now to secure your spot in this web event.  Key topics include:

Navigating Diagnostics: Strategies and solutions to enhance diagnostic accuracy and patient safety outcomes.

Care Transitions: Best practices and research for managing integrated care transitions to ensure continuity of patient care.

Future of Diagnostics: Advances to health care that benefit patient care, including improved diagnoses and treatments.

If you are interested in attending but need somewhere to watch the event, please reach out to the Patient Safety Improvement Specialist, Terry Fodë, to arrange your attendance by emailing terry.fode@tbh.net or calling extension 6754 no later than Thursday, September 12 to sign up. 

World Patient Safety Day Announcement

Shared on behalf of Infection Prevention and Control

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Please be advised that the COVID-19 outbreak has been declared over on 2A medical unit at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Center as of Friday September 06, 2024.  All restrictions have been lifted and regular activities to resume tomorrow, Saturday September 07, 2024. 

Please share this information with the appropriate staff.

For more information, contact Infection Prevention and Control at 807-684-6094.

Join Donna Berta RN, BScN, Clinical Project Coordinator – Nursing, ORBCoN, as part of the “Transfusionists Talk” webinar series to learn about Intravenous Immune Globulin (IVIG).

Two Sessions: September 18, 2024 from 9:30 a.m. to 10:10 a.m. (EST). Click here to register; and 2:30 p.m. to 3:10 p.m. (EST). Click here to register.

Learning Objectives:

1. To apply the responses to transfusionist IVIG questions to their practice.
2. To recognize and understand the clinical indications for IVIG treatment.
3. To define nursing actions to safety administer IVIG.

Attend this free, virtual, interactive opportunity for learning. Registration is mandatory.   

Register for both sessions if unsure of your preferred time. Immediately, you will receive an email from Zoom. This email confirms registration and includes the link to attend that session on September 18, 2024.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Janet Sharun, Coordinator, Transfusion Services at extension 6901 or janet.sharun@tbh.net.