To recognize Blood Cancer Awareness Month, Patient Voice and Maclean’s Magazine spoke with Sandra Derouard and Lynne Knowlton, two women with unique insight into the many challenges faced by Canadian rare b-cell lymphoma patients and their loved ones. Also featured is Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre’s Chief of Oncology, Dr. Nicole Laferriere.

Read their story: https://www.macleans.ca/longforms/finding-courage-and-calm/

Sent on behalf of Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott, President and CEO, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre; CEO, Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute

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As an organization, we are delighted to announce Jeannine Verdenik has accepted the position of Vice President, People & Culture effective November 7, 2022.

Jeannine is a well-rounded and established executive leader with more than 27 years of progressive human resources management experience within Northwestern Ontario. Jeannine joins us from Confederation College, where she has held several leadership roles, most recently as the Executive Director, Organizational Effectiveness. Jeannine represents a diversified background in human resources, health and safety, equity and human rights, compensation and benefits, labour relations, and developing organizational strategies to evolve and transform organizational culture and effectiveness.

As a key representative of the senior leader team, Jeannine will report to the President and CEO and work cross-functionally with other departments to understand, guide and support a suite of responsibilities as overseen through the portfolio that includes Human Resources, Occupational Health, Volunteer Services, and Library.

In this role, Jeannine will provide strategic leadership and guidance to ensure that operational plans represent our organizational needs and are reflective of the Patient and Family Centred Care Philosophy. With a clear focus on vision, values, mission and strategic directions, Jeannine will enable an environment that exudes service excellence and supports our people in a manner that allows us to work and thrive while providing exemplary service to our patients and the communities we serve.

Jeannine holds a diploma in Human Resources Management, a Master of Laws in Alternative Dispute Resolution, and a Master of Education with an emphasis on Leadership. In addition, she holds the designation of Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) and numerous certificates in developing organizational effectiveness such as The Power of Teams, Appreciative Inquiry, and Human Resources Management (HRPAO).

Please join me in welcoming Jeannine to our organization!

Shared on behalf of Infection Prevention and Control

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Please be advised that the COVID-19 outbreak has been declared over at 1A Medical Inpatient (Front Hall Only) as of September 13, 2022. All restrictions have been lifted.

Please share this information with the appropriate staff.

For more information, contact:
Infection Prevention and Control
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre
684-6094

Shared on behalf of Peter Myllymaa, Vice President, Operations, Clinical and Support Services & CFO

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I am pleased to announce that Katrina Hotson has accepted the position of Executive Assistant, Operations, Clinical and Support Services, effective September 19, 2022.

Katrina is an accomplished administrative professional with over 15 years of experience, and has held various positions within our Hospital. Most recently, Katrina has held the position of Administrative Assistant to the Informatics and Capital Planning & Operations portfolios.

In this position, Katrina will be responsible for the administrative coordination of the Operations, Clinical and Support Services portfolio. Katrina will also be providing interim support to the People & Culture portfolio. With her diverse skill set, along with her organizational and communication skills, Katrina will be a great asset to our team.

Please join me in congratulating and welcoming Katrina to her new role.

Please join the Métis Nation of Ontario, Northwest Regional Cancer Program Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and the Northeast Regional Cancer Program Health Sciences North, and Ontario Health/ ICCU to learn about cancer prevention and screening in Ontario. Our guest speakers, including Bonnie Lindberg, will be sharing information on the importance of cancer screening, provincial cancer screening programs in Ontario and our guest speaker, Dr. Walid Shahrour will be sharing about prostate cancer for men in Ontario.

All are welcome to register for this free information session.

Housekeeping Appreciation Week is an opportunity to recognize the value and hard work provided by all of the dedicated members of our Hospital’s Housekeeping team. Please join us in thanking our amazing Housekeeping team for everything they do and the important role they play.

“I’m a very big believer that, for a newcomer, there is no better place to start their journey to Canada, than to come to Thunder Bay.“

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Published by the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission and CIC News

Sasha Bubon, Associate Scientist at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute and Chief Technology Officer of Radialis Medical, has accomplished a lot since immigrating from Ukraine 12 years ago.

His story and eventual path to Canada began with an online search when he was an undergraduate student with a degree in computer science and engineering.   He was looking to apply to a Master’s Program in Physics and was researching international opportunities when his search led him to Dr. Alla Reznik, currently the Canada Research Chair in Physics Radiation and Medical Imaging and a Professor at Lakehead University.  Sasha had never heard of Lakehead University or Thunder Bay but he was interested in Dr. Reznik’s work and the connection with Dr. Reznik, who coincidentally is also from the Ukraine, sparked the journey that would eventually lead him to the shores of Lake Superior.

But it would take a while and as Sasha tells it, there was a lot of paperwork and back and forth communications before his arrival in Canada in 2010.   He began the process in 2009 and recalls the that it took some time to determine what the University would accept and verification of his degree from the Ukraine. The program at Lakehead University is thesis based and the research is for detectors in medical imaging.  Sasha feels that his education in Engineering from the Ukraine was especially helpful in applying for the applied physics program.  This was exactly what Dr. Reznik was working on, and his background was a perfect fit.  Sasha was accepted into the program and after a few more delays, finally found himself on his way to Canada.

It was the middle of winter when Sasha arrived in Thunder Bay in January 2010 and although he had researched the city, he found it to be a quite a change from home and what he was used to.  Born and raised in the capitol city of Kyiv, a  large city which he describes as “vibrant and dynamic”, he readily admits that it was quite a transition to what he describes as “rural Canada”.  He had never heard of Thunder Bay before, and other than Dr. Reznik who had just recently moved from Toronto to Thunder Bay herself, he had no other connections to the city.  The Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute was just starting up at that time and Sasha was one of the first Masters students to work there.  It was a tremendous opportunity and in addition owning and managing his own business, Radialis Medical, he has remained there and a contributing member of the Thunder Bay community ever since.

Sasha recalls his initial impressions of the area when he arrived and how it compared to the research he did to prepare for the move.  The weather required some adjusting initially.  Because Thunder Bay is on the same latitude as Kyiv, he expected similar conditions but hadn’t factored in the cooling effect of Lake Superior, which he describes, with a hint of humour, as a “giant thermos”.  Sasha’s geography research gave him a better sense of where he was located in Ontario and he noted the city’s closeness to the American border, which saw as being a plus.   But he didn’t know much about the city of Thunder Bay itself.  Most of what he knew was through his association with Dr. Reznik who he describes as a “superstar” in the science field and he readily admits that he came here specifically for the opportunity to work with her.   But Sasha is not short on enthusiasm for his adopted city.

“I’m a very big believer that, for a newcomer, there is no better place to start their journey to Canada, than to come to Thunder Bay. “

He goes on to point out that there are plenty of job opportunities in the city and everyone he knows who has immigrated here has found a job. In addition, there are the obvious advantages of the lower cost of living and housing in particular. Although the market has cooled recently, Sasha has observed that it is possible to live in Thunder Bay and buy a house with an income of $40,000 a year, which would be impossible living in larger centre.

Sasha has found Thunder Bay to be a welcoming community and many of the supports that were given to him, such as finding a place to live so he knew exactly where he was going when he got off the plane, were provided by his colleagues and connections at Lakehead University. But much of the work related to immigration he had to handle on his own. He found the bureaucracy to be frustrating but he can now take his frustrations directly to the ballot box as he became a proud Canadian citizen (and a voter) in 2017.

Sasha also has become somewhat of an ambassador for Thunder Bay. His colleagues at Lakehead University initially felt that they did not need an international student but after working with him, they were asking him if they were more students interested in coming here. Because Sasha travels around the world in his job, he is able to educate people about Thunder Bay.

“Everywhere I go, I promote Thunder Bay as much as I can, “he says. He often meets Ukrainian friends who have moved to various locations elsewhere in the world for job opportunities and he always manages to bring up Thunder Bay. He chuckles as he quotes their usual response “Yes, we know Thunder Bay is the best place in the world, as you keep telling us.”

Sasha’s work as a scientist and researcher has been widely recognized and in 2020, he received an award for his work in developing a “virtual biopsy” that uses new a PET scan technique to detect breast cancer. He has used his skills and training to develop medical imaging that will save lives. This is his priority now but his enthusiasm and commitment to his adopted city are hard to miss.

(Via Grand Council Treaty #3)

With much anticipation, on August 24, Grand Council Treaty #3 celebrated the launch of their Cancer Survivorship Campaign.

“The Cancer Survivorship Campaign was created to bring awareness to key types of cancer that currently impact Treaty #3 communities,” explains Ogichidaa Francis Kavanaugh “More importantly, this campaign shares the message that people do survive cancer, especially if it is caught in the early stages.”

This collaborative campaign involved partnering with the North West Regional Cancer Program at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC), and with videos directed and filmed by Upriver Media. The campaign features the stories of three Treaty #3 survivors who share their lived experiences with prostate, colon and breast cancer. The videos focus on the survivors’ story while also educating viewers about provincial, organized screening tests for breast and colon cancer.

“In many First Nation communities in Northwestern Ontario, cancer is often not found early enough. We are pleased to work with Treaty #3 to help share these stories and experiences to promote the importance of cancer awareness, screening and survivorship in First Nation communities,” says David McConnell, Director of Regional Cancer Care at TBRHSC.

The main theme of this campaign – ‘Cancer affects us all’ – is a strong and supportive message that reminds us that cancer is not a journey we have to face alone, that there are others going through similar experiences. The campaign also highlights the importance of caregivers and community along the cancer journey.

The videos can be viewed at www.gct3.ca/cancersurvivorship.

Grand Council Treaty #3 continues to advocate and support efforts to address health outcomes and lessen the burden of cancer within Treaty #3 communities. As such, this campaign will be shared with Treaty #3 communities and broadly across the North West region.