Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) presents “Ask an Expert”, a series where team members from our Bariatric Centre of Excellence answer questions they commonly encounter. For more information on our Regional Bariatric Care Centre, please visit bit.ly/TBRHSC-RBCC.  This month’s question is answered by Katelyn Methot, Registered Kinesiologist.

How does physical activity help me to improve my health?

Physical activity provides many health benefits. Physical activity is an important tool to improve chronic disease risk factors, by lowering blood pressure, increasing healthy cholesterol and decreasing unhealthy cholesterol, improving blood sugar regulation, and reducing inflammation. Physical activity also improves stamina and strength, cardiovascular and respiratory function, protects the joints from osteoarthritis, and reduces the risk of falls and injuries. It also has a positive impact on mental health and cognition.

Diet culture refers to a set of beliefs that values thinness, appearance and shape above health and well-being. It can have a negative effect on a child’s relationship with food and their body. When determining what, when and how much to eat, help your child listen to their physical hunger and fullness cues. When children are taught to trust their bodies, they have a greater sense of self-esteem, which can help foster body acceptance and a positive relationship with food.

For more resources on healthy living or to learn more about TBRHSC’s Paediatric Healthy Living Program, please visit our website at bit.ly/Paediatric-Healthy-Living-Program

Ryan Shalley and Manish Agarwal thought it was an April fool’s joke but quickly realized their win in the J&J Sports Save a Heart raffle secured them a prized Polaris RZR900 Trail Premium side by side worth over $27,000. Their decision to support the raffle was a natural choice for Manish given his father’s cardiac journey, and Ryan’s feeling that we should have had cardiac surgery in Thunder Bay all along. The two plan to utilize their prize for summer adventures with friends and family.

Jeff Witiluk, Dealer Principal of J&J Sports, said, “Our family is so proud to be a part of this raffle knowing the impact the funds will have for our community. No one should have to travel out of town for life-saving cardiac surgery and we’re thrilled that we can contribute to raising the much-needed funds to bring cardiovascular surgery closer to home.”

This donation by the Witiluk family is part of a larger donation to support their ongoing commitment to the Our Hearts at Home Cardiovascular Surgery Campaign.

Shared on behalf of Help Desk

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With the transition to Microsoft Outlook, we need to retire GroupWise Messenger and ask that you start using WebEx Messaging.

A Webex account has already been created for you, just click on the WebEx application in your Application Launcher.

NOTE: WebEx should not be used to communicate personal health information.

See the attached knowledge article for more information on how to use WebEx Messaging.  This knowledge article is also available in Help Desk – Self Service.

GroupWise Messenger will be retired on June 1, 2024. For more information, contact the Help Desk at help@tbh.net or at extension 6411.

Shared on behalf of Dave McConnell, Director, Regional Cancer Care North West and Sandra Wilson, Manager Molecular Imaging, MRI, US and Clerical Support

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We are pleased to announce that as of March 12, 2024, our Hospital now offers Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) prostate scans to patients. PSMA PET scans are used to target a protein found in prostate cancer cells and can potentially identify areas of prostate cancer recurrence not seen with routine imaging such as Bone Scans, MRI or CT.

Although our Hospital had previously participated in a clinical trial to be able to offer this testing, as a result of COVID-19 as we were unable to secure the radiotracer (F-18 PSMA) needed to perform the PSMA PET scan. By bringing awareness to this inequity for the North, a solution was pursued to address this gap in prostate cancer management.

After much advocacy, we have successfully secured funding and are now manufacturing this radiotracer in our Nuclear Medicine department. By having this isotope in our hospital, adjacent to our PET/CT scanner, the Nuclear Medicine team can prepare this radiopharmaceutical without barriers created by transportation or distance. This program expansion will enable us to provide timely care for patients in the Northwest region closer to home.

Join us for a LAST BASH at the Fort William Curling Club on April 12th and 13th, where sheets one and two will be transformed into the Pepsi Party Zone for the Power of Hope Curling Bonspiel!

Grab a beverage at the Pepsi Party zone bar, watch some curling, play some yard games, and much more down on the ice level. This fun event will be packed with intense curling games, and is in support of the Mental Health services here at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.

Shared on behalf of Jennifer Pugliese, Director, Information Technology

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We are pleased to announce that Erin Kilar-Bearman has accepted the position of Administrative Assistant, Information Technology, for Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, effective April 8, 2024.

In this role, Erin will provide vital support to myself in Information Technology and Adrianno Copetti, Director of Information Systems, and our respective portfolios in their daily operations. She will be located in Suite 401, 1040 Oliver Road and can be contacted at ext. 7356 or Erin.Kilar-Bearman@tbh.net.

Erin comes to us with over ten years of professional experience supporting and leading people and projects. She is currently working on obtaining her Project Management Professional (PMP) designation.
She is eager to contribute to the Information Technology and Information Systems portfolios.
Please join me in welcoming Erin into her new role.

With heavy hearts, we learn of the recent passing of Georgina (Georgie) Hari. Georgie was a true leader and passionate advocate for advancing healthcare in Thunder Bay and across Northwestern Ontario.

Under Georgie’s leadership the hospital foundation undertook the bold campaign to raise funds for a new, centrally located hospital – our wonderful Health Sciences Centre. Alongside the hospital’s leadership she worked tirelessly to make our community’s collective dream a reality. After the opening of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, Georgie continued in her mission until her retirement in 2008. We will be forever in her debt.

Always a trailblazer, prior to becoming a staff member at the Foundation, Georgie had a distinguished career in telecommunications – retiring as the General Manager for Bell Canada in 1998.

We extend our deepest condolences to Georgie’s family and loved ones. May you find comfort knowing the lasting impact Georgie had on healthcare in our community. Thank you.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 12 years since the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation launched the Exceptional Cancer Care Campaign (ECC). A success by any measure, that campaign helped ensure that more cancer patients could get more services right here in Northwestern Ontario, closer to family and friends.

Time and again, we’ve seen how important that’s been. Samantha Frade, who had cancer treatments in Thunder Bay and in Toronto, tells us firsthand how important it is to have those services here. “There is something about being at home that allows all your support system to be more accessible to you,” Samantha said. “It’s… home.”

She also told of the time when the ageing PET/CT unit, which helps pinpoint tumours, broke down in the middle of her scan.

“I was disappointed, but I was more heartfelt for the three people behind me. Two were from out of town and would have to come back again,” she said. Anyone who has driven the roads in Northwestern Ontario during winter knows how stressful rebooking an appointment in Thunder Bay can be.

The fact is, most of that equipment our Cancer Centre purchased 12 years ago is ageing and needs to be replaced.

“Twelve years is the distant past in the world of cutting-edge cancer care,” said Dr. Joseph Del Paggio, our new Chief of Oncology at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. “New advancements and ageing equipment mean we need to replace and upgrade our equipment now.”

Not only that, we need to increase our capacity to meet the growing need. The number of cancer patients we treat every year has also gone up since ECC. That means adding a third linear accelerator (LINAC) to Radiation Therapy, and replacing the other two in the next few years. These units are the heart of radiation therapy, delivering targeted doses to cancer tumours while sparing healthy tissue. The Cancer Centre is rearranging its space to accommodate the new LINAC and new PET/CT scanner.

Our Cancer Centre has a plan. But it relies on one other key component: community support. Donors are vital to bringing this plan to life, and without them, those plans are just a dream. Twelve years ago, the community and region came together during ECC to ensure we had the best equipment available. Now, Dr. Del Paggio said, we need to come together again to carry on that legacy.

“Our donors built an incredible cancer program right here in our backyard,” he said. “Exceptional Cancer Care closer to home saves lives, reduces fear and anxiety, and provides world-class treatment to the beautiful people of Northwestern Ontario. I’m hoping we can count on community support again to maintain that high level of care we worked so hard to get.”

You can help ensure the legacy of the Exceptional Cancer Care Campaign lives on! Your donation today to the Northern Cancer Fund will bring new and upgraded equipment to our Cancer Centre. That means more people getting treated right here in Northwestern Ontario, and fewer patients travelling to southern Ontario or elsewhere for the care they need.

Please give online at healthsciencesfoundation.ca/donate or call our Donation Centre at 807-345-HOPE (4673) to make your donation by phone.