How to get assistance, post transition.
IT will be visiting your department on the day of transition to answer any questions you may have.
Check out https://outlookhub.tbh.net for how-to guides and frequently asked questions (FAQs).
Sign into Help Desk – Self Service and submit the Email Issue request.
Call the Help Desk at (807) 684-6411 and press 1 for Outlook Transition Assistance.
This April, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) and 30 health care organizations from across Northwestern Ontario are highlighting the importance of cervical screening by hosting the seventh annual Pap-A-Palooza.
Pap-A-Palooza increases awareness about cervical screening and encourages eligible individuals to book a Pap test. A Pap test is a screening test that can detect cell changes in the cervix that may lead to cervical cancer before people feel any symptoms.
“Cervical cancer is almost entirely preventable with regular screening, follow-up of abnormal results, and the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine,” explained Dr. Naana Jumah, Ontario Health – Cancer Care Ontario Regional Colposcopy and Cervical Screening Lead for the North West region. “However, only around 50% of eligible individuals in Northwestern Ontario have participated in cervical screening.”
Who should have a Pap test? The Ontario Cervical Screening Program recommends having a Pap test every three years for anyone:
“Most cervical cancers are found in individuals who have never been screened or have been screened less often than recommended by Ontario’s cervical screening guidelines,” stated Dr. Jumah. “Regular cervical screening is important because it can find early changes that could lead to cervical cancer. Treating these changes can prevent cervical cancer from developing.”
The goal of this year’s campaign is for the 30 participating organizations to complete 800 Pap tests.
“Participating in Pap-A-Palooza is easy,” shares Tarja Heiskanen, Manager, Screening and Assessment Services at TBRHSC. “Locate a participating site near you by visiting the Pap-A-Palooza website, and call to book your appointment. You can participate even if you do not have a health care provider and no referral is necessary.”
To find a participating clinic near you or to learn more about Pap-A-Palooza, visit tbrhsc.net/pap-a-palooza or call the Pap-A-Palooza Hotline at (807) 684-7787.
April 2nd marks the 21st anniversary for Oncology Nursing Day in Canada. The theme for this year is “From Coast to Coast: Uniting Our Practice”.
It is a day to recognize the incredible role oncology nurses play in our national health care system. Cancer affects people of all genders, nationalities and age groups. Oncology nurses are on the front lines of cancer treatment, care and research. We thank all Canadians, from coast to coast, for helping us celebrate Oncology Nursing Day. Oncology Nurses profoundly impact the lives of so many cancer patients and their families.
There are few specialties in the nursing profession where nurses have the privilege to practice, teach, lead and impact patients and families with an illness across the entire disease trajectory. Oncology nursing affords nurses this opportunity, to care for patients from prevention and screening, diagnosis and assessment, treatment, symptom management and support, survivorship, and palliative and end of life care, helping patients to meet their goals of care along the way. Even during difficult times, oncology nurses are inspired by the patients and families they care for.
We encourage our community, region and all Canadians to join us in showing appreciation and thanks to all of our oncology nurses for their commitment, passion, and dedication to patient and family centred care.
Jon Cada is March-ing into spring with the life-changing news that he is now a millionaire. Jon got the call this morning that his $50 ticket package won him $1,740,910 as March’s 50/50 grand prize winner!
“It’s a Great Friday, not just a Good Friday,” says Jon. “Friends and family have been in and out of hospitals over the years, so your 50/50 was an easy one to support.”
To date, over $37 Million in prizes has been awarded to winners from across Ontario. In turn, millions of dollars has been raised to Do More Faster for better healthcare at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
“Buying your ticket is also a life-changing moment for thousands of patients at the Hospital,” says Glenn Craig, President & CEO of the Health Sciences Foundation. “This is because proceeds from every ticket purchased go directly to local healthcare equipment and services to ensure we have the high-quality, closer-to-home care we all deserve.”
April Draw Now Open
April’s draw features 16 Early Bird draws worth $45,000, including a 10-winner blitz on April 3rd! The grand prize jackpot happens Friday, April 26, 2024. Tickets are now available online at www.thunderbay5050.ca or in-person at the 50/50 Store in Intercity Shopping Centre. Ticket packages are as follows:
** Tickets must be purchased by 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 25, 2024 to be eligible for the Grand Prize draw on Friday, April 26, at 11:00 a.m.
Questions about the draw can be sent to info@thunderbay5050.ca. Ticket purchasers must be present in Ontario to purchase and 18 years old or older. The Thunder Bay 50/50 continues each month with the Grand Prize drawn on the last Friday of the month. (2024 Lottery licence RAF1352142)
The Maternity Centre at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) provides prenatal care for the residents of Thunder Bay and surrounding region. Our team is committed to providing evidence-based maternity care that is safe, respectful and culturally sensitive.
No referrals are necessary to access care at the Maternity Centre.
During pregnancy, you are welcome to call the Maternity Centre to schedule an appointment with one of our prenatal care providers. All of our programs are accessible with your Ontario health card.
This week’s Maternity Centre Monday post welcomes the 126 babies born at TBRHSC during the month of March. Congratulations on the new bundles of joy!
Learn more about our services by visiting bit.ly/TBRHSC-Maternity-Centre.
The annual mandatory E-Learning courses for 2023-20324 are now offline. Learning modules for 2024-2025 will be launched shortly. Stay tuned to the Informed Newsletter for more information!
Transitional Rehabilitative Housing Program provides supportive services to people at a residential site whose care is being managed by Forensic Mental Health. The services and programming offered are designed to enhance the strengths and skills of the residents in a supported environment as a way of facilitating their transition to independent living in the community. The program includes a partnership with the John Howard Society as well as the Forensic Supportive Housing team at the Canadian Mental Health Association.
There are many other Indigenous languages spoken around the world. Anishinabek (Ojibway), Mushkegowuk (Cree), and Anisininew (Oji-Cree) are three of the Indigenous languages commonly spoken in our area, and throughout Canada. Ojibway, also spelled Ojibwe or Ojibwa, is an Algonquian language spoken by many Ojibwe people in Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Cree is an Algonquian language spoken by many Cree people in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Oji-Cree is a hybrid language that combines elements of both languages, and is spoken in Northwestern Ontario and Mideastern Manitoba. These languages each have their own unique vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.
An example of a common Anishinabek (Algonquian) word is “miigwech”.
“Miigwech” is commonly used to express gratitude or thanks in the Anishinabek language. It is a way of acknowledging the kindness or help received from someone. The word is often translated to “thank you” in English, but it carries a deeper meaning of appreciation and respect. It can be spelled a number of different ways. Algonquin was not traditionally a written language, so the spellings of Algonquin words in English may vary a lot depending on the dialect and region in which the language is spoken.
Spelling Examples:
As a Hospital, we help patients who speak Indigenous languages by providing translation services for multiple languages, such as Anishinabek, Anisininew and Mushkegowuk. Providing care that is accessible to patients and their families is central to our mission, and we are committed to ensuring that language barriers do not prevent our patients from receiving the care they need.
Hello, Boozhoo, Bonjour.
Let me begin this month’s blog by briefly addressing the 2024 Ontario Budget, tabled in the Legislature on March 26th as it could have positive implications on us here.
What we know is the Finance Minister announced Ontario is going to spend billions on back pay related to increases associated with the Bill 124 case. The total extra compensation owed so far is reportedly about $6 billion. Here are some other highlights from the budget:
Again, this is all ‘hot off the press’. We anticipate more detail, context and analysis from the Ontario Hospital Association over the coming days. So, stay tuned. We see this as a positive budget, but I am also acutely aware there is much more needed. We will continue to advocate aggressively with the province.
On that note, we had a special guest last week when we welcomed Dr. Karima Velji, Chief of Nursing and Professional Practice and Assistant Deputy Minister for the Ontario Government. Throughout the visit, we had opportunity to highlight our great staff and the dedication of our health professionals. We also highlighted the need to recognize our region as one where we don’t have the same pool of resources to draw from when it comes to health professionals due to our remoteness and limitations in the academic programs offered. Please know that we continue to be persistent with our advocacy for our Hospital, Health Research Institute and region on the need to have health human resource initiatives that are more tailored to our region. We look forward to continuing the conversation with other Ministry representatives and I’ll ensure to keep you up to date on our progress.
On the COVID-19 front, as you know, the Assessment Centre played a pivotal role in our Hospital’s response to COVID-19 and in supporting our community and region by providing clinical services for testing and treatments.
Now that we have less demand for COVID-19 testing and assessments, and decreased COVID-19 activity, we have received direction to wind down our Centre. I would like to acknowledge and thank the dedicated people who were instrumental in getting this centre up and running in the early days. As well, thank you to the teams that continued to develop new pathways to support the community along the way as the pandemic evolved. Thank you for your dedication and willingness to adapt operations throughout the pandemic. The incredible work leaves us well-positioned to revisit this model of care, should there be a need to respond to future disease needs.
Still with operational matters, the time is finally here as we all transition over from using StaffRight to using UKG Pro Workforce Management as our new scheduling system. As you can imagine, transitioning over 3,500 employees is not an easy task and I am sure we can all agree – change is not always easy. I don’t think there is anyone that has not been affected by this switch over. I would like to thank the team for the work done on this project.
I have to say it was great to see many of you throughout Employee Recognition Week. The week was geared to celebrate all of you and the great work you do to support our community health care needs. The week held many recognition events and I hope you all had opportunity to participate in some way. I recognize that we don’t always connect with everyone through the variety of giveaway events; but please know your work is making a difference and you are appreciated.
As I conclude, I would like to share a testimonial that comes straight from a patient. We get many of these each month from areas across the entire Hospital (because you are all amazing!) and I normally share these in my Board report, but I do think it’s worth repeating here for you.
As always, your feedback on these blogs or any other matter is always welcome and valued. You can reach me at: rhonda.ellacott@tbh.net.
Sent on behalf of Ryan Sears, Director, Capital & Facility Services
Please be advised the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (at the 980 Oliver Road location only) will execute a planned impairment of its entire Overhead Paging System and Fire System on Thursday, April 4, 2024 for approximately eight (8) hours – starting at 11:00 p.m. to facilitate a planned fire system device installation.
Our Facilities and Security teams will be enacting and overseeing our Fire System Impairment and Fire Watch procedures, as included in the Fire Plan for our site.
During this impairment, no Hot Work will be authorized. Further, any high risk work that could result in an elevated risk of fire, heat, or smoke should not be planned – please review this within your department and plan to discontinue high-risk activities (i.e. construction, repairs, hot showers, etc.). Should you observe activities that may be of concern during the impairment, contact your Supervisor or Manager to discuss.
While the Hospital’s Overhead Paging System is out of service, alternate measures will be applied to notify the organization of Emergency Codes and Alerts. Staff will continue to activate all Codes using extension 55. Please see the attached policy for guidance.
Key things to remember during an outage:
1. Regularly monitor email for emergency code and alert notices issued by Switchboard.
2. Respond to emergency codes and alerts through alternate communication measures, e.g., paging, radios, emails, runners, etc., as appropriate – and activate response as required.
3. Be vigilant in reviewing department activities during the period of fire system impairment.
4. Clinical leads are encouraged to collaborate with their teams to consider alternatives to paging patients back to units, such as collecting Patients’ mobile phone numbers.
Further, in event of fire during this impairment, please execute all steps as outlined in Code Red Policy (EMER-30) and your area sub plan. Should you discover a fire – “REACT”:
R – Remove persons in immediate danger.
E – Ensure doors are closed to confine fire or smoke.
A – Activate the fire alarm by pulling the nearest pull station.
C – Call Switchboard at Ext 55 to report the location of the fire.
T – Try to extinguish the fire if trained to do so or continue to evacuate.
The contractor for the fire system work is Troy Life & Fire Safety. The Building System Operator is onsite and reachable at cell number 629-7005. Further support will be provided by Security (684-6509) and the on call Facility Manager (cell number 629-3119) as required.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the above, please contact Ryan Sears (ryan.sears@tbh.net)