Shared on behalf of Lakehead University

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The spotlight will be on research, innovation and collaboration during Lakehead University’s 19^th annual Research & Innovation Week, February 24 to March 1.

A venue for researchers to showcase their activity and expertise, Research & Innovation Week highlights the profound impact Lakehead faculty and graduate and undergraduate students have on our community and beyond through advancement of new perspectives and innovations.

“Research & Innovation Week is designed to elevate awareness of the university’s world-class research activity and expertise, create opportunities for collaboration, and recognize exceptional achievements,” explained Dr. Andrew P. Dean, Vice-President, Research and Innovation. “Through research and scholarly activity, we can improve every aspect of society.”

Various events are happening throughout the week including guest speakers, interactive exhibits and displays, and research showcases.

On Saturday, Feb. 24, there will be a free public event at Goods & Co. Market on Red River Road. Drop by between 10 am and 4 pm to engage in hands-on research activities.

Then, on Monday, Feb. 26 at 12 pm, biologist, science journalist, author and TV host Dr. Dan Riskin will deliver a keynote address. In this hour-long talk, Riskin will delve into how individuals can learn and thrive in the new world of artificial intelligence. Registration is required.

On Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 11 am in the CASES Atrium, Dr. Scott Hamilton will explore the complexities surrounding academic participation in the search for unmarked graves at Indian Residential Schools (IRS). Over the past decade, Dr. Hamilton has been involved in IRS investigations, first as a researcher with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and more recently as a resource person.

Also that afternoon, guest curator Mary Ann Beckwith will host a tour of Lakehead’s new juried and featured art in the CASES Building from 4 to 5:30 pm. Select exhibitors will be on hand to discuss their works.

On Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 10 am in the Faculty Lounge, the University will be hosting a showcase of researchers who will present highlights of their most innovative and impactful research endeavours – from science and technology to social sciences and humanities.

Speakers will include Dr. Abigale Sprakes from the School of Social Work; Dr. Abdulsalam Yassine from the Department of Software Engineering; Dr. Noah Phillips from the Department of Geology; Dr. Paul Cormier from Keewatinase – Department of Indigenous Education in the Faculty of Education; and many more.

Also on Wednesday, Dr. Amanda Diochon will dig into her work to improve land management outcomes for organic carbon stores and soil health, with a focus on northern soils – from 11:30 am to 1 pm in the University Centre (UC 1017).

On Thursday, Feb. 29 at 2 pm, Lakehead professor and director of EPID@Work Dr. Vicki Kristman will explore the factors impacting employee health and disability and offer solutions to help improve the overall work environment. Dr. Kristman’s talk will be held in the CASES Atrium.

Visit www.lakeheadu.ca/ri to register for events and for more information.

Shared on behalf of Adam Vinet, Vice President, Patient Experience & Chief Nursing Executive & Regional Vice President, Regional Cancer Care; and Peter Myllymaa, Vice President, Operations, Clinical & Support Services & Chief Financial Officer

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We have recently communicated with you about an organization wide project to convert our legacy timekeeping system (Staffright) to a new best-in-class system UKG Pro Workforce Management (formerly branded as UKG Dimensions). With this change, we are set to embark on a new era of workforce management that provides you, our managers and employees, with direct access to the time and attendance information you need, in real-time.

We are thrilled to inform you that we have set the go-live date for UKG as March 25, 2024.

To ensure a smooth transition, we will be running both StaffRight and UKG Pro Workforce Management simultaneously for two pay periods, from March 25 to April 21, 2024. During this period, staff will continue to be paid through StaffRight, while we closely monitor the UKG Pro Workforce Management system.
This approach will allow us to gauge the system’s performance and ensure it aligns seamlessly with our requirements. Rest assured, we aim to be 100% ready for payroll processing on UKG Pro Workforce Management when we transition solely to this system on April 22, 2024.

In the upcoming weeks, you will be provided with training opportunities to familiarize you with the new system. We urge you to keep an eye out for more information on training sessions, which will equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate UKG Pro Workforce Management effectively.
We truly appreciate your cooperation and dedication during this critical transition. If you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact your supervisor or a member of the UKG Implementation Team.

Thank you for your continued support.

UKG Implementation Team:

• Dino Armenti – Co-Project Sponsor
• Dawna Maria Perry – Co-Project Sponsor
• Rita Grenier Buchan – Project Lead – Scheduling
• Michael Iorianni – Project Lead – Payroll
• Carrol Wenzell – Payroll Subject Matter Expert
• Monique Trudeau – HR Subject Matter Expert
• Cora Rouillard – Integration Subject Matter Expert
• Julio Gomes – Integration Subject Matter Expert
• Trisha Gibson – HR Subject Matter Expert – Leaves
• Sharen Howarth – HR Subject Matter Expert – Leaves
• Angela Kutok – PI Consultant

Many events are happening in Thunder Bay to recognize Black History Month. We encourage each of you to take time to honour, reflect, celebrate, and learn about the many languages, cultures and immense contributions of Black Canadians throughout the month and every month of the year.

Check out the list below to see what is taking place throughout February. Please note this list will be updated as more events are announced. Are you aware of Black History Month events that we do not have listed? Feel free to submit event links for consideration, by email, to TBRHSC.GroupNews@tbh.net

Afro-Latin Black & Gold Party
Where: Nortenos Taqueria – 698 Arthur St W, Thunder Bay
When: Friday, February 16, 2024
For more information: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/afro-latin-black-and-gold-party-tickets-792179970617

Black History Month Dinner Party
Where: Oliver Road Community Centre – 563 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay
When: Saturday, February 17, 2024
For more information: https://www.tbnewswatch.com/classifieds/events/community-events/1858871 or to register: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6ZVQVWP

Black History Month: Tuwii Business Market
Where: Goods & Co – 251 Red River Road, Thunder Bay
When: Friday, February 23, 2024
For more information: https://www.instagram.com/goodscomarket/?hl=en

Black History Month: Tuwiii Gala Dinner
Where: Goods & Co – 251 Red River Road, Thunder Bay
When: Saturday, February 24, 2024
For more information: https://www.instagram.com/goodscomarket/?hl=en

Our Cancer Centre’s Radiation Therapy Department received a provincial innovation award from Ontario Health – Cancer Care Ontario for their Remote Treatment Planning initiative. This award recognizes significant contributions to quality and innovation in the delivery of cancer care in Ontario.

Each cancer patient coming to Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) for radiation therapy undergoes detailed treatment planning prior to beginning their radiation treatment. This complex process entails creating a unique radiation plan for each patient with the goal of maximizing dose to the target volume or tumour while minimizing dose to nearby organs.

“It is important to have health care services, like treatment planning, available in our region to avoid having to send our patients to other sites for treatment,” explains Dr. Margaret Anthes, Medical Lead for Radiation Oncology at TBRHSC. “However, there is currently a shortage of health care providers who are specifically trained and qualified in radiation planning in North America. The Remote Treatment Planning model demonstrates the success of creative solutions to health human resource challenges.”

The Radiation Therapy Remote Treatment Planning initiative was implemented to improve treatment wait times while keeping care close to home in Northwestern Ontario. The local team developed a sustainable infrastructure plan that would enable secure remote treatment planning. The initiative had two main components. The first component was hiring qualified treatment planners to perform work remotely. This meant that treatment plans could be developed by experienced planners who were living outside of the region and then treatment would happen at TBRHSC’s Cancer Centre in Thunder Bay. The second component was the development of workflow, training and infrastructure to ensure seamless execution of these treatment plans.

“Since implementing this model over one year ago, our Cancer Centre has seen positive impacts to access to care and wait time improvements,” shares David McConnell, Director, Regional Cancer Care North West. “Other cancer centres from across Canada have now expressed interest in this model and have been exploring its use at their sites.”

While introducing the novel solution of remote treatment planning, the Cancer Centre has continued with other strategies to improve wait times including hiring additional radiation therapists, training existing staff to fill these roles, and recruiting support from physics staff.

The team recognized for this award includes Isaac Tavares, Patrick Rapley, Diane Brett, Melanie Zappitelli, Margaret Anthes, Mellissa Linke, David McConnell, Peter McGhee, Helen Norton, Joanna Vestby, Stacey Cervini, Cheryl Cummins-Holder.  

For the full list of Quality & Innovation Award recipients, visit https://bit.ly/3GM6FbN.

To learn more about cancer care at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, visit bit.ly/TBRHSC-Cancer-Care.

Shared on behalf of Infection Prevention and Control

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A confirmed outbreak of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Outbreak number: 2262-2024-00033 has been declared on 2A medical unit as of February 11, 2024. All restrictions are in place.

Please share this information with the appropriate staff.

As always, our number one priority is the safety of patients and their families, staff and visitors. All patients identified as having an exposure to this outbreak will require isolation with appropriate additional precautions.

The department of Infection Prevention and Control encourages everyone to keep applying the routine practices of hand hygiene, proper use of PPE, equipment cleaning, and the appropriate admission screening of all patients. Please set an example for staff and students and assist us by maintaining compliance and due diligence.

Shared on behalf of Carina Desramaux, Manager, Pharmacy and Andrea Raynak, Director, Nursing Practice

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In follow-up to the memo circulated on February 5, 2024, please note that new protocols have been implemented based on guidance with The Safe Pharmaceutical Handling Evaluation Collaborative newly created framework.

The updated guidance has been incorporated into our existing policy SAF-2-04 and renamed to Hazardous Drugs – Safe Handling (see attached).

The revised policy is in accordance to recommendations and best practice and includes:

• Categories and Definitions of Hazardous drugs with direct links to the most up to date list
• Risks and Labelling
• Detailed information on the safe handling of hazardous drugs (i.e., associated personal protective equipment, disposal and emergency management).

A complete list of All Hazardous Drugs are included with this memo (see attached).

To support this change in practice, a Quick Reference Guide has been created and is attached. Additional educational materials have been created and will be distributed as we initiate hospital wide education beginning on Monday, February 12, 2024.

Any questions about this memo can be directed to your Manager.

We thank you for your cooperation throughout these updates.

Welcome to our January babies

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 Mondays post welcomes the 110 babies born at TBRHSC during the month of January. Congratulations on the new bundles of joy!

Find out more by visiting bit.ly/TBRHSC-Maternity-Centre.

Each year on February 11, we celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. This Day is a reminder that women and girls play a critical role in science and technology communities and that their participation should be strengthened.

This year, we connected with Dr. Brianne Wood, Social Accountability and Learning Health Systems Associate Scientist, NOSM University and Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre/Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute for an informal Q&A..

Dr. Wood’s research focuses on the development, implementation, and evaluation of learning health systems research in Northern Ontario and supports the integration of educational and health systems research.

Why did you decide to get into science?

I found my way into research through mathematics and statistics, which I realized was a strength of mine in high school. It helps that my parents were math and science teachers! I love using a logical approach to problem solving, to follow a robust system or a process to get to an answer, and to recognize that the process itself is as important as the outcome. I learned that there is a need to apply some of these theoretical concepts in the health field to help make people’s wellbeing and health care better, which is how I ended up in epidemiology.

Tell us about your research — what are you currently working on?

I am lucky to have a lot of cool projects on the go right now. A few highlights — working on bringing evaluation and feedback activities into health system work in Northern Ontario, like the digital health transformation in the North West, or Ontario Health Teams. I’m also working with health care professionals, decision-makers, community leaders, public health and researchers to figure out ways to bring artificial intelligence into health systems work.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

Meetings. So many meetings.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

I love when people that I partner with — patients, health system leaders, health care professionals — reference the work that I do in their own work lives. To know that some of the work that I do has helped Northern Ontario organizations receive additional attention or funding to help them address things that are important to them, that feels good.

Any advice for other women/girls considering a career in science?

I think a lot of girls and women are already excited about STEM and making important impacts! So it’s about promoting STEM opportunities in gender-diverse and inclusive ways and highlighting the accomplishments of people in STEM from different backgrounds (e.g., gender, ethnicity, class). We need to move away from the discourse that STEM is more boys and men, because there are already so many women and gender-diverse people in that space . We need to celebrate them but also recognize some of the challenges they have faced, and work to make system change. My advice is to find a mentor (or maybe even a network) of supports to check in with, to run ideas by, to help you through the inevitable challenges, and to appropriately celebrate your successes.

Learn more about the International Day of Women and Girls in Science at un.org/en/observances/women-and-girls-in-science-day.