Did you miss the Virtual All Staff Town Hall on March 20? A recording is now available for viewing here.

The informative session featured:

Patient Story – told by Donna Jeanpierre
Employee Recognition Week Recap and Engagement Survey Follow-up – Jeannine Verdenik
Respiratory Illness Season Update – John Ross
Hospital Volunteers and Patient Family Advisors – Donna Jeanpierre and Shannon Schiffer
SP2026: Workplace Violence Prevention – Amy Carr
Transition from GroupWise to Outlook – Jennifer Pugliese
UKG Pro Workforce Management Update – Dino Armenti, Dawna Maria Perry, Rita Grenier Buchan, and Michael Iorianni

If you have questions you would like answered, please send them to TBRHSC.GroupNews@tbh.net and we will do our best to address them at a future Virtual All Staff Town Hall.

If you’d like to access a recording or presentation from a previous Virtual All Staff Town Hall, visit the archive.

Thank you for your commitment to staying informed and engaged.

March is Engineering Month. In Canada, Engineering Month is a celebration of the profession of engineering.

Every year, this national campaign commemorates the dedication, passion, and hard work of engineers — including those who work right here in our Hospital in various roles — and who strive to make our world a better place.

This year’s theme is “Engineering: A Place for Everyone” which highlights the diversity of thought, people, and opportunities that exist within the engineering profession. Engineers’ unwavering commitment and enthusiasm for making a difference and improve our daily lives.

Management of Stroke with Atrial Fibrillation

Presented by: Dr. Amro Lahlouh

Tuesday April 2, 2024 Webex Invite 1630 – 1730 (4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.)

“The Department of Internal Medicine Monthly Rounds is a self-approved group learning activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.”

Objectives: Participants will be able to: 1) receive a comprehensive understanding of stroke prevention in Atrial Fibrillation, 2) navigate anti thrombotic therapy for stroke prevention, 3) define breakthrough stroke risk factors.

Meeting link: https://thunderbayhospitals.webex.com/thunderbayhospitals/j.php?MTID=me922b9866f0a40779fcb771dfe218f03

Meeting number: 2334 186 7463

Password: Meeting

Please note, the Cancer Centre entrance will be closed for the evening of Friday March 22, beginning at 6 p.m. until the evening of Saturday March 23. Delivery of a new Linear Accelerator will commence at 7 p.m. 

The entrance and unloading zone will be cordoned off with caution tape. Do not cross the barriers.  Please use the main entrance instead.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

L’Accueil francophone de Thunder Bay is coordinating the French Language Training Program funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, French Language Services Office. The program offers reimbursement of tuition fees for French language courses to eligible employees of designated organizations, organizations in the process of being designated, or institutions that have been identified to provide French language services under the French Language Services Act.
For more information regarding eligibility and requirements for reimbursement, please refer to the below documents which can be accessed via the Human Resources iNtranet page under Employee Resources:

• French Language Training Program Information – provides basic information about the program and the approved providers;
• Fact Sheet – provides information about eligibility and requirements for reimbursement;
• Conditional Eligibility Form – must be completed and submitted by interested employees prior to registering for classes.

Any questions concerning the above can be addressed to Chantal Després, Resource Person for the French Language Training Program: Telephone: 1-807-697-0881 / 1-888-382-6452 e-mail: cdespres@accueilfrancophone.com.

Today is Dietitian Day in Canada. It celebrates dietitians as regulated health care professionals, committed to using their specialized knowledge and skills to translate the science of nutrition into terms everyone can understand to unlock food’s potential and support healthy living for all Canadians.

Dietitians are rigorously trained and regulated health care professionals and remain the most credible source of food and nutrition information. Dietitians can help cut through the clutter of fads and gimmicks. They provide ethical, evidence-based nutrition advice to help you eat in a way that works with your culture and traditions, preferences, nutritional and personal needs such as taste, food skills, budget, and health conditions.

Two of Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre’s Registered Dieticians — Lindsay Sutherland and Jonelle Armitage —took the time to connect with us and give us a glimpse into their roles.

What does it take to become a registered dietitian?

Dietitians undergo comprehensive and rigorous education.  To become a dietitian, you need to complete a university degree in human nutrition and dietetics as well as period of supervised practical training; this is generally a year long. You then are required to pass a national licensing exam.

What inspired you to work in the field?

Everybody eats! We wanted to learn the science behind nutrition and how our body uses nutrients to function and stay healthy. Being a dietitian allows you to combine your love of food and science while helping others understand that something they do every day can greatly impact their health.

What is unique about your role?

We have the opportunity to work with all age groups in all walks of life. Dietitians have many different career options including working in the food industry, working at the community level (such as homecare and with community health centres), working as a clinical dietitian as well as working in public health, just to name a few.

What do you love about your job?

Working in an acute care setting, we often see patients when they are very unwell. Nutrition interventions put in place by Dietitians can positively impact a patient’s course in hospital. A few examples include: helping a child who is admitted with faltering growth by providing support and nutrition education to their family; assisting a patient to optimize their micro/macronutrient intake to support wound healing; providing a critically ill patient with adequate nutrition to support their recovery to go from being on a ventilator to walking around with physio. Seeing the positive impacts of clinical nutrition interventions and knowing that nutrition played a role in patient recovery is very rewarding.

Promoting a healthy lifestyle is part of your messaging to patients. Do you have any personal tips on how to stay healthy?

Enjoy the food you eat and do the things that make you happy! Take a balanced approach when making lifestyle changes and try to avoid an ‘all or nothing’ mentality.   

Today is Match Day 2024! This is a highly significant and exciting time for our 4th-year medical students. They will learn the results of the first round of the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) which will advise them on which residency program they have been matched with, and where in Canada they will be completing their residency.

We would like to invite you to join Academic Affairs in congratulating our students on their success in completing medical school and embarking on the next stage of their careers.

The current class will be with us until March 31, and you can identify them by their red lanyards. The new class will join us on April 22.

Congratulations and all the best!

Shared on behalf of John Ross, Director Medicine, Patient Flow and Partnerships

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Our Hospital’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre has played a vital role in protecting the health and safety of our staff, professional staff, patients and community members.

Due to a limited amount of COVID-19 activity locally, the demand for testing and treatment services is decreasing significantly. As such, the final day of operation for the COVID-19 Assessment Centre will be March 31, 2024.

Moving forward, COVID-19 testing and treatments will be ordered through Primary Care. In cases where the administration of Remdesivir is determined appropriate, primary care can refer patients to Home and Community Care Support Services North West for treatment.

Reminder for Prescribing Physicians and Nurse Practitioners:

Prescribers are responsible for ensuring adherence to Ontario Health eligibility criteria for Remdesivir treatment. Please refer to the OH/MOH Guidelines: Ontario Health Recommendations for Outpatient Use of Intravenous Remdesivir (Veklury) in Adults.

Thank you to all staff, professional staff and community partners who contributed to the successful operation of the COVID-19 Assessment Centre during the pandemic and until now. Your commitment, dedication, and flexibility have not gone unnoticed.