Pink Shirt Day (February 28) celebrates kindness and take action against bullying. Remember, a small act of kindness can go a long way. Whether you reach out to someone who is struggling or call out bullying behavior when you see it, we can all make a positive difference in the lives of those around us. #YouAreNotAlone, so never hesitate to ask for help if you need it. Let’s work together to create a world free of bullying, one kind act at a time!
Pink Shirt Day began in 2007, after David Shepherd and Travis Price wanted students at their school to wear pink to stand with a Grade 9 boy who was bullied for wearing a pink shirt.
We would like to inform you that T4 tax slips for the 2023 tax year are now accessible for viewing and printing through the ESS (Employee Self Service) Portal.
To access your T4 tax slip, please log into your ESS portal and select the “Tax Slips” option.
If you wish to access your T4 from home, you must first enroll in Cisco Duo to enable multi-factor authentication. If you haven’t done so already, please contact the Help Desk at 684-6411 or help@tbh.net.
Important Reminder: Please be aware that certain employees will receive two T4 slips for the same tax year. Kindly review them carefully to determine if you have been issued two T4 slips, as both will be required for income tax preparation.
Should you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact Michael Iorianni, Manager of Payroll & Accounting, by phone at 684-6917 or via email at Michael.Iorianni@tbh.net.
Shared on behalf of Alex Sieswerda, Chief of Midwifery, TBRHSC
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and the Midwifery Department want to thank Sandra Shymko for her long-time service to our community and congratulate her on her retirement.
Sandra is a registered midwife who has been providing primary care to families in Thunder Bay and region since 2002.
Sandra – your knowledge, experience and integrity will be truly missed. Enjoy skiing, biking and travelling! All the best in your future adventures.
Workplace Integration Program – Offered by CARE Centre for Internationally Educated Nurses
Do you want to recruit, integrate and/or retain Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs)?
This requires commitment to increase workforce diversity and provide culturally competent care. CARE Centre for Internationally Educated Nurses is offering FREE virtual lunch and learn sessions to all TBRHSC and SJCG employees.
If you’re an IEN, or work with IENs, we encourage you to attend the Workplace Diversity and/or Empowering IENs to Succeed sessions.
Workplace Diversity
March 5 & 19, 2024 from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Learn how to facilitate a smooth transition and successful integration of IENs into the workforce. This session offers strategies to make this process as open and equitable as possible. Everyone from boardroom to bedside is encouraged to attend. Whether you are human resources, leadership, management, nursing or any member of the healthcare team, you do not want to miss out on this learning opportunity.
Empowering IENs to Succeed
March 14 & 21, 2024 from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
This session will provide practical knowledge/skills/strategies to support safe, ethical and legal nursing care in Ontario. It includes topics such as interprofessional collaboration and client/patient and family centered care.
Dr. Naana Jumah, an Obstetrician Gynaecologist at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and Assistant Professor at NOSM University, is an ally and advocate for Indigenous maternal health, and the recent winner of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada’s Carl Nimrod Educator Award. A Rhodes Scholar, PhD in Engineering and Harvard-trained physician, Dr. Jumah has chosen to return home to practise in Thunder Bay, where she grew up after immigrating from Ghana as a child.
She’s quick to credit the many role models who have inspired her—starting with Moffat Makuto, organizer of the Regional Multicultural Youth Center in Thunder Bay.
“Being a newcomer to Canada, I was part of that youth group when I was a kid,” she recalls. “We travelled around the region and did programming for high school students throughout Northwestern Ontario and on reserves. As immigrant and refugee kids, we saw that the kids who had the hardest time adjusting to life in so-called ‘Canada’ were the kids coming from reserves. I saw that then, and it stuck with me. It was an area where I wanted to continue working and have a meaningful impact.”
Dr. Jumah first trained as an engineer, earning a PhD from the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. “I loved engineering, but I really missed the kind of interactions I had when I was working with Moffat in the youth group, getting to know people and being part of their lives,” she says. “I applied to medicine hoping to do both.”
She didn’t initially intend to pursue obstetrics and gynecology. But, when a close family member passed away, Dr. Jumah had to rearrange her medical school clerkships. The result was a long clerkship in obstetrics, gynecology, and gynecological oncology, and she fell in love. “I realized that obstetrics and gynecology brought together all my interests. There was a combination of clinics and work in the operating room. There was an option for advocacy; the issues were important. The combination of skills was a really good fit,” she says.
Dr. Jumah has become a strong advocate and ally. She has supported numerous initiatives to help improve maternal health for Indigenous peoples, including working with Confederation College to train Indigenous women as lay maternal infant support workers, and creating a curriculum to train health-care workers in delivering culturally safe care that builds communications and trust with patients.
The work of which Dr. Jumah is proudest is supporting her colleague, Lisa Bishop, to develop an Indigenous midwifery program in Thunder Bay under an alternative funding model for Indigenous midwifery from the Ministry of Health. She supported the funding application for the program and helps in hospital if a patient needs care from an obstetrician.
“It’s been amazing to see the practice grow,” she says. “I’ve played a small part in trying to be an effective ally. I think it speaks to something tangible that we can do as health-care providers in trying to work towards reconciliation. It’s the right thing to do for patients, and it works towards the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action—more Indigenous care providers, providing care in a culturally appropriate way.”
“Because of who I am, as a Black physician and immigrant, the challenges that patients face can be more obvious to me than they might be to physicians who have a different background,” she says.
For Dr. Jumah, Black History Month is a time to recognize the breadth of contributions from Black Canadians who have been here for generations, as well as immigrants from the Caribbean and Africa.
“Black History Month recognizes the importance of Black Canadians to the wider country. I think oftentimes the contributions are noticed in sports, arts, and entertainment. Outside of that, contributions are often overlooked, and that’s a stereotype of who Black people are. We’re good at sports, we’re good at music, but we’re not good at other things—like academic or technical accomplishments. Black History Month allows the spotlight to be shone on the community as a whole. That goes a long way into breaking those barriers and eliminating those stereotypes,” she says.
Join the Healthy Living and Cancer Prevention & Screening Series on Thursday, March 21 at 2pm EST for a presentation entitled ‘Supporting the Journey: A Colon Cancer Survivor’s Story’.
Colon cancer survivor, Derek Kelly shares his experience and the importance having family and community support during your cancer journey.
The Healthy Living and Cancer Prevention & Screening Series provides ongoing education and awareness about chronic disease prevention, cancer prevention and screening for Indigenous communities, partners and organizations throughout Northwestern Ontario.
We’re excited to share that starting in April, we will be migrating from GroupWise to Outlook as our email service.
Right now we need your help!
To facilitate a smooth and efficient transition, we kindly ask all GroupWise mail users to declutter their mailboxes.
What does that mean? This entails removing any older emails, particularly those containing large attachments that are no longer in use. Refer to the attached instructions for guidance on this process.
It is important to note that any emails you delete will still be accessible in your Retain Email Archive for a period of three years.
Your cooperation during this transition is greatly appreciated. Stay tuned for further updates in your GroupWise mailbox.
Lillie Johnson emigrated from Jamaica to Canada in 1960 after training as a nurse and midwife in Jamaica and the U.K. She has a Bachelor of Science in nursing from the University of Toronto and became the first Black director of public health in Eastern Ontario.
In 1981, Johnson founded the Sickle Cell Association of Ontario and lobbied the government to add the disease to its list of newborn screening. It is now standard practice to screen for sickle cell disease for newborns in Ontario. Now in her late 90s, Johnson continues to advocate for sickle cell anemia education.
She has received recognition for her advocacy and work, which include the Toronto Public Health Champion Award, the Black Health Alliance Legacy Award and Toronto Metropolitan University’s Viola Desmond Award, and was the recipient of the Order of Ontario.
