Congratulations to Alyssa Cuglietta, who recently won six months of FREE PARKING in the random draw prize for completing her Employee and Professional Staff survey!

There are more prizes to come, including another free parking prize draw! To be entered in the draws, make sure to complete your survey using the unique link sent to your email inbox. The deadline to complete the survey has been extended until December 10, 2023.

Don’t have access to a computer? Come by the cafeteria this evening (Tuesday December 5) from 6:00 p.m-9:00 p.m. to complete your survey. Laptops will be available for use and complimentary tea, coffee, and cookies will be offered for those who complete their survey.

Staff from the Emergency Department (ED) and the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at our Hospital were in the giving spirit recently. They held a friendly competition to see who could collect the most non-perishable food items in support of a local Thunder Bay food bank.

Both departments finished strong: the ED staff collected 186 items, while the ICU staff collected 352 items.

The ED and ICU staff also wanted to raise awareness about food insecurity and the importance of donating to our local food banks. Food insecurity affects individuals of all ages and backgrounds. Giving food to those in need benefits our communities in more ways than we may know.

We are very thankful for the work that our local food banks do to support the needs within our community, and are proud to contribute towards their efforts this holiday season.

Thank you to all our ED and ICU staff who helped make this food drive an overwhelming success. We hope this inspires others to give back as well.

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The Our Hearts at Home Cardiovascular Campaign is helping bring cardiac surgery to Thunder Bay so patients no longer have to travel far from home for this care. One family that understands close to home cardiac care is the Witiluk family.

Today, they teamed up with the Health Sciences Foundation to launch the ever-popular Save a Heart Raffle. All funds raised will go to support the development of a cardiovascular surgery program at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, to keep our hearts at home.

This year’s raffle will be known as the Save a Heart Side by Side Raffle. The prize is a Polaris RZR900 Trail Premium Side by Side, valued at $27,566, which has been generously donated outright by J&J Sports.

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.”

Added Witiluk, “Our community is the real winner in this raffle, but I also can’t wait to see who takes home the brand new Polaris RZR900 Side By Side. They’ll be driving away in a unit that has comfortable seating for two, LED headlights and accents and a great combination of power, which is perfect for those who love the outdoors year round.”

Adam Vinet, Vice President, Patient Experience and Chief Nursing Executive, Regional Vice President, Regional Cancer Care at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, attended the launch of this year’s raffle. He knows how much of an impact the funds raised will have.

“Currently, when patients need coronary bypass or other procedures, they must travel far from home to access this critical care,” said Vinet “We need local access to cardiac surgery for our patients to have timely access to care. Our plan for these new surgical services is in place, and with your help, we are making this a reality.”

“Knowing how much of an impact this raffle will have and hearing about this incredible prize, I am confident that tickets are going to sell themselves,” said Glenn Craig, President and CEO of the Health Sciences Foundation. “And keep our hearts at home.”

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Tickets for the Save a Heart Side By Side Raffle are on sale now. They are $20 each, 3 for $50, or 10 for $100 and may be purchased at:

• J&J Sports, 939 Tungsten Street
• Thunder Bay Mitsubishi, 872 Copper Crescent
• Balmoral Park Acura, 868 Copper Crescent
• Health Sciences Foundation Donation Office (lobby of Hospital)

The draw date is April 1, 2024. Lottery license #861391.

The Employee and Professional Staff Engagement Survey has reached 50% participation rate! Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share their anonymous feedback.

If you have not done so yet, the Employee and Professional Staff Engagement Survey deadline has now been extended to December 10, 2023. Draw prizes of gift cards and free parking will be randomly drawn throughout the week for those who have completed their survey.

Shared on behalf Nicole Moffett, Manager, Emergency Preparedness, Switchboard and Security

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As you may be aware, there was a malfunction with our overhead paging system that occurred on the afternoon of Friday, December 1^st. The malfunction resulted in some communications broadcasted over the system. Although we cannot identify the source at this time, we sincerely apologize for the interruption.

We are continuing to work with IT, Facilities and the third party vendor to determine the root cause of the error so that we can avoid a similar situation in the future. We have since rectified the issue.

Many concerned staff members attempted to notify Switchboard of the malfunction. We truly appreciate the team approach in navigating the issue. As a reminder, please only use the ‘55’ phone number when activating an emergency response. It is important to leave the ‘55’ line available for emergencies only.

Thank you for understanding. If you have any questions or further concerns, please contact me at Nicole.Moffett@tbh.net or ext. 6185.

Throughout the month of December, drive by 753 Syndicate Ave., tune your radio to 92.3FM, and be prepared for a light show featuring four singing light bulbs!

James Hill has been bringing smiles and Christmas cheer with his light show for eight years. This year he’s asking passers by to donate to the Our Hearts at Home Cardiovascular Campaign, to help bring full cardiovascular surgery to Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario. Drive up and watch a song or two or stay for the full 30-minute line up – all from the comfort of your vehicle.

Monday to Thursday 6:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Friday to Sunday 6:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve 6:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.

Donate here: https://www.healthsciencesfoundation.ca/lights

Congratulations to the latest prize winner for the Employee & Professional Staff Engagement Survey! Kristi Taylor was randomly chosen as the draw prize winner and is going home with a gift card for completing their survey.

Want the chance to win a prize too? Don’t forget to complete your confidential Employee & Professional Staff Engagement Survey by Sunday, December 3. We have reached 47% participation rate, that much closer to our goal of 75%! Thank you to everyone who has participated thus far.

Originally posted on TBnewswatch.com

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THUNDER BAY — A student who lives in Thunder Bay and studies at NOSM University was surprised just to be nominated for the award, but now she’s the Ontario College of Family Physicians’ 2023 medical student of the year.

In making the announcement, the college said Nusha Ramsoondar exemplifies the vital role that family doctors play across Ontario.

The award goes to a student who’s seen to be an emerging leader and advocate for family medicine, and who has made contributions to family medicine and/or primary care in areas such as patient care, peer support, advocacy, community service, research and education.

Now in her fourth year at NOSM University, Ramsoondar aspires to be be a rural family physician, after developing a passion for it while on placement in northern communities such as Dryden, Sioux Lookout and Timmins.

“It’s a little bit of everything, you know. You feel a little bit like a jack-of-all-trades, and I like that a lot. Family medicine, especially rural family medicine, lets me do a range of services and keep up a range of skills for patients when there’s a little bit less access to specialists,” she told TBnewswatch in an interview.

Ramsoondar said she also a deep interest in helping vulnerable and marginalized populations.

“I was lucky to be involved in some research since the first year at NOSM on improving social accountability in medicine … and I’m still working on it today. Hopefully I get to continue doing that work in residency.”

She said the research focuses on creating frameworks and evidence briefs on why all the factors related to social accountability are important, how they improve health outcomes for patients, and “why it’s important to actually take the time, consider making changes to your practice, and improving the standard of care that we can provide to patients.”

Ramsoondar was nominated by a fellow student who described her as “an incredibly motivated and creative medical learner” looking to help people through the lens of equity, diversion and inclusion.  

“She has already been involved in leadership and educational roles that showcase the important role physicians play in providing patient-centred care, peer support, community advocacy and research,” her nominee wrote.

She has served as the inaugural vice-president of equity and inclusion for the NOSM student council, and is currently part of the SAFE for Health Institutions’ research team where she has focused on creating new opportunities for marginalized learners while exploring equity-oriented social accountability.

Ramsoondar is keeping her options open in terms of where she’d like to begin her practice, but said it will be “somewhere in Northern Ontario, maybe somewhere a little bit smaller, just because I do like smaller towns.”

To start with at least, she hopes to serve as a locum doctor, which will allow her to travel and treat patients in various communities across the North.