‘Pressing Pause’ is the theme for the monthly Health and Wellness Challenge in March. Whether it’s taking a vacation or simply having coffee with a colleague, taking a break can be instrumental in allowing our bodies and minds time to recover from the stress of daily life and avoid burnout. How do you take the time to press pause?
Throughout the month of March, share a photo of your favourite vacation or way that you take a break to be featured at the end of the month. Your responses can be submitted to Haley.Shipston@tbh.net.
I would like to begin this month by acknowledging the information picket held locally last week as part of a provincial movement. As I have shared with local media before, nurses and all front-line health care workers are fundamental to health care in our community and you are facing historic challenges right now. Here at our Hospital, we rely on your clinical excellence and ability to care with compassion and professionalism.
Despite the health human resources pressures both provincially and regionally, our recent efforts to recruit more nurses to our organization have been promising. We have successfully hired 66 full time nurses in the first phase of recruiting this year.
In addition to those nursing positions, we have introduced 40 personal support workers (PSWs) to three of our Inpatient Units and hired over 100 unit care aides to assist with patient care activities and daily routines. These roles support our nursing team, enabling them to focus on their skills of providing acute nursing care for our patients.
If you get the chance, welcome our new colleagues and help them transition in as smoothly as possible.
Staff experience and the wellbeing of our workforce is critical to everything we do, and we know there is still more work to do across so many disciplines. With the formation of the Staff Advisory Committee, we will work together to innovate new and better solutions, change our approach to care and approach to challenges and problems.
That said, much more needs to be done to address these ongoing challenges. That is why we continue to engage with the Ministry of Health to communicate both the challenges we face here in Northwestern Ontario, and how they may differ from other parts of the province. We will continue those conversations moving forward.
As well, we are doing an environmental scan to see how other hospitals across the province and across the country are moving forward post-COVID-19’s “new normal”. Public Health Ontario also provides guidance on COVID-19 that is indexed to risk.
Over the next month, recommendations will be reviewed and advanced through Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) and Senior Leadership.
By way of background, last year the Hospital engaged the people of our region in the development of our new Strategic Plan 2026, and through this process, we heard stories that helped us to shape our priorities and our future through our Strategic Plan.
One of our first priorities is a pillar related to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. That means creating an organization where we all belong – where we embed equity, diversity and inclusion in everything we do and providing a culturally safe experience for all patients and staff.
This past month, I had the distinct pleasure of joining our new Vice President, Indigenous Collaboration, Equity, and Inclusion – Dr. Miranda Lesperance – to officially launch the Wake the Giant Indigenous Culture and Inclusivity Training.
We collaborated with local Indigenous partner organizations to develop this training. As a regional acute care provider, providing care that honours our patient’s identity, background and experiences is a priority for us.
The Wake the Giant Indigenous Culture and Inclusivity Training will help our staff to better serve our community and bring us forward in a good way. Moreover, we remain committed to continually working with community partners in developing our Hospital as a more culturally inclusive, safe space.
Finally, I want to recognize that this is Employee Appreciation Week – one of my favourite highlights is the popular “kindness carts.” I do hope that I get the opportunity to personally thank you for your continued efforts and dedication while making rounds. Last evening I was able to connect with many individuals and look forward to continuing the conversation.
As always, please feel free to reach out to me if you have comments on this blog or connect with me for any other matter. You can reach me at: rhonda.ellacott@tbh.net
For the February 28th edition of the Healthy Get-Together series, Erin May (Certified Yoga Instructor, STOTT Trained Pilates Instructor, Advanced Rolfer Movement Teacher) guides us through a vagal yoga practice that can be done sitting in a chair. The vagus nerve controls systems in the body that maintain balance and harmony. Through a set of exercises, eye patterns and special breathing techniques, vagal yoga is designed to dial down stress, enhance deep sleep, relaxation, activate healing and optimize a person’s full potential.
GRATITUDE was the focus of February’s Health and Wellness Challenge. Here is what TBRHSC staff, professional staff, volunteers and learners are grateful for.
With February wrapping up, keep an eye out for March’s Health and Wellness Challenge!
Alexandra Bastiany, MD, made history when she became Canada’s first Black female interventional cardiologist in 2020. Now, Bastiany’s achievement is being recognized in a surprising way: with her very own doll.
Brown Diva Dolls, a Canadian company focused on creating dolls that highlight ethnic and cultural diversity, is releasing a new doll inspired by Dr. Bastiany. The company announced the new doll this month, highlighting Dr. Bastiany’s accomplishment. The doll is not yet available, but the company has said more details will be made available soon.
Dr. Bastiany spoke with CBC News in Canada about the new doll.
“When I was a kid, I didn’t have any dolls that looked like me,” she said. “I didn’t know any Black doctors either. So for me to be able to provide that to children…it’s a dream come true.”
The week is dedicated to celebrating the people – medical staff, employees, teams, volunteers, Patient Family Advisors and donors – who are making a difference for patients and families in Northwestern Ontario through their outstanding service and dedication.
This week, staff are encouraged to visit the Intranet, read the Daily Informed Newsletter and check our social media to learn more about special Employee Recognition Week prize draws, daily trivia, Recognition-O-Grams and more! Check out the Human Resources iNtranet page for more information.
For Employee Recognition Week (ERW) 2023, we are shining a spotlight on some of our local supporters. Today we are featuring our friends at ACO Services, who provide our employees with access to a corporate electronics purchase program. They are also generously donating a set of Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones for our ERW prizes, which will be raffled off to staff during the week of February 26 to March 3, 2023.
Here’s what John Lockyear, President of ACO Services, Inc., had to say about his ongoing support of Hospital employees:
“As a family run business each new employee at ACO becomes a small addition to our family. Through this we recognize that growth in of our company, and most importantly our team members, comes from empowerment. Empowering people to be the best people they can be.
It is on these values that we are extremely excited to be able to support Hospital staff during their annual recognition week and throughout the year.”
Employee Recognition Week trivia features the work that you, our staff, do every day. Submit your responses to our Hospital trivia through our online submission form, for a chance to win prizes throughout Employee Recognition Week.
New questions will be posted daily throughout the week, and give employees chances to win great prizes donated by our Affinity List members, as well as those provided by the Hospital.
Prizes include a Nespresso machine, Amazon Echo Dot, Yeti Tumblers, and thousands of dollars of gift certificates to local retailers.
Lakehead University’s 18th Annual Research & Innovation Week’s planning is well underway and we’re pleased to return to an in-person event. The events (e.g workshops, student poster/oral presentations, and speaker panels) will run from February 27 to March 2, 2023 on the Thunder Bay campus, and from March 7 to March 9, 2023, on the Orillia campus.
Lakehead University’s R&I Week delivers on 3 key goals:
To celebrate and showcase research excellence
To raise public awareness about research and its benefits to society, and
To facilitate research collaborations
Research excellence is promoted throughout the year, but especially during our annual Research & Innovation Week. A number of awards are given out during this week, including the Distinguished Researcher Award, the Research Excellence Award, the Building Research Capacity Award, the Innovation Award and many more.
Research & Innovation Week provides an avenue for researchers (faculty, students and research staff) and their partners, to showcase their research. The event includes both graduate and undergraduate student conferences. Achievements in graduate student research are celebrated through the Three-Minute Thesis, Three-Minute Research and Graduate Student Research Excellence awards, which encourages high quality presentations and publications by graduate students.
The contributions of faculty and students are also promoted locally, nationally, and internationally to raise the profile of Lakehead University’s research activity and expertise.
Each year, a theme is chosen to guide topics for presenters. The chosen theme for the 2023 Research & Innovation Week is “Improving Our Lives Through Research.”
Improving our Lives through Research
Curiosity propels us to discover life’s mysteries, and research enables us to improve every aspect of our lives. We strive to make our world an exceptional place, and work to make our present lives and futures brighter as we learn from our past. Research – whether in scientific discoveries, in health and wellbeing, in understanding society and culture, or in partnering with community and industry – is the cornerstone to understanding problems, finding solutions, and improving our lives.
