Shared on behalf of Jennifer Madahbee, Manager, Planning and Performance Improvement, Strategy & Performance
I am pleased to announce that Joanna Coccimiglio has accepted the position of Performance Improvement Consultant, Strategy & Performance, effective September 19, 2022.
Joanna has spent the past two years supporting Corporate Services & Operations portfolio as an Executive Assistant. She also recently took on the added responsibilities as Executive Assistant for the People & Culture portfolio. Prior to this, Joanna worked for Northern Supply Chain and the Thunder Bay Health Sciences Foundation.
Joanna holds a Masters of Science in Management and an Honours Bachelor of Commerce Degree both from Lakehead University, as well as a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt. Joanna’s experience, education and skills will be a great asset to the team as we move forward with the Strategic Plan 2026.
Please join me in congratulating Joanna on her new role!
Rita Bannon was an avid sports person who loved fastball and broomball. Then, when her body told her it was time to retire from these sports, Rita’s new passion became playing pool. She and her sisters enjoyed the sport together, playing in women’s and mixed leagues in halls around Thunder Bay – and even winning trips to Las Vegas to compete in tournaments.
She had been diagnosed and treated for breast cancer 15 years ago, which she had mostly kept to herself. According to her brother Wally Bannon, Rita had a quiet strength. As a breast cancer survivor, she lived life well, retiring from her job as a Bailiff at the Thunder Bay Courthouse, becoming a partner in the J&W Confectionary and Gas Bar (her family’s business) and enjoying the camaraderie of her pool community.
One day in late July 2021, Rita fell ill, getting sicker through the weekend. When the ambulance and EMS arrived, she suffered a stroke and was rushed to hospital. She never recovered and passed away shortly after.
She left behind many brothers and sisters, but they had no intention of leaving her memory behind. What better way to commemorate Rita’s love for life and fun – they thought – than to gather people together to do what she loved best – play pool.
In one short month, her family organized the Rita Bannon Memorial Pool Tournament at her favourite place to play – the Thunder Bay Elks Lodge #82 – on May 8th. Promotion via social media and in the pool halls attracted 70 participants.
The total entry fees were split 50/50 with one half going to the tournament winners and the other to the Northern Cancer Fund, in honour of Rita being treated for and beating breast cancer here at home.
In all, the funds her siblings raised through the event’s prize auctions and raffles, along with half of the entry fees, saw $11,000 donated to the Northern Cancer Fund.
“Rita was fun-loving and enjoyed a good party,” said Wally. “This was a fundraiser she would have loved. The pool community she hung with really came out and supported her.”
Amazed by the turnout and funds raised in honour of Rita this year, her family has decided to make it an annual event. Planning has already started for the next pool tournament to take place in the spring of 2023.
The Northern Cancer Fund raises funds that are 100% dedicated to supporting exceptional cancer care in Northwestern Ontario. Your donations make HOPE possible. You can donate online at www.healthsciencesfoundation.ca/northern-cancer-fund or by calling 807-345-4673.
A local cancer research project in Northwestern Ontario is revealing new insights into how treatment for prostate and bladder cancers differs for patients depending on where they live in the region. Dr. Walid Shahrour, a reconstructive urologist and researcher at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, led the research. It is one of the largest and most comprehensive cancer studies done locally to date. The results could help improve cancer treatment pathways in Northwestern Ontario – and elsewhere.
“This research might have implications for our healthcare policies,” Dr. Shahrour said. “If we are seeing that where you live in the region affects outcomes, we can make changes to adjust cancer services accordingly. We are in discussions with Cancer Care Ontario and Indigenous communities to find out what we can do.”
For example, research into prostate cancer treatment and access to care studied 1,550 patients, taking note of data points such as age, where they lived, what stage their cancer was when they were diagnosed, what treatments they had, and so on. That “and so on” is not small – each patient had 2,000 to 3,000 of these data points. In total, the study generated 4.2 million data points to examine, correlate, and analyze in this study alone – a tremendous amount of information to process.
“It’s excellent that we have so much data, but it does take a long time to analyze,” Dr. Shahrour said, adding that they may turn to artificial intelligence (AI) systems to help process the results. It also requires specialized expertise to interpret the results. “You can’t find just anybody to review the data points and understand what it all means.”
However, Dr. Shahrour noticed some trends early. Most notably, patients living closer to Thunder Bay had better outcomes on average.
“We saw that our patients tend to be diagnosed at later stages of cancer when they’re living farther away (from Thunder Bay),” Dr. Shahrour said. “We also found that patients in Thunder Bay were more likely to go for surgery and radiation therapy as compared to a patient who lives away from Thunder Bay who is more likely to go for surgery only.”
Right now, the results are fuzzy like a picture out of focus. There are likely many inter-related reasons for the patterns the team identified, which is why the researchers need to study the data further. Dr. Shahrour hopes to get a clearer picture not only of what is happening, but also what can be done to improve access to cancer treatments and services for all patients.
Dr. Shahrour presented these early findings at the American Urology Association (AUA) annual conference, held last May in New Orleans. He said the results could point the way for other regional cancer programs across the country and around the world.
“If a patient lives 400 km from Thunder Bay, the closest centre, and another patient lives 400 km Saskatoon, I would expect similar findings. That’s important for improving healthcare policies everywhere.”
Your donations to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation’s Urology Fund have helped support this research. Research is a key part of any healthcare program, understanding the current health status and changing healthcare policies to meet patient needs. Everyone who has donated so far has helped fund important research like this – research that will improve access to care, especially for those living outside of Thunder Bay.
“We want to give the best for our patients,” Dr. Shahrour said. “This research will help us do that by identifying where there might be shortfalls in the system and what we can do to improve access to care.”
I wanted to reconnect with everyone and provide an update as the summer months wind down. I truly hope you were able to find moments of rest, relaxation and reconnection with friends and family. Here’s a quick update on what’s been happening.
Health Care System Changes
Across the globe and closer to home our health care systems are facing challenges resulting from the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the long-term health impacts of the pandemic, fewer health care workers and demographic and economic pressures. As you are likely aware, the Province says it has a five-point plan to address some of these areas that will positively affect our operations for our Hospital. You can read it in detail here. The government says its plan includes hiring “…up to 6,000 additional health care workers, frees up 2,500 more hospital beds and temporarily covers cost of examination, application and registration fees for retired and internationally trained nurses”. As well, the potential implementation of a “first available bed” policy as in Bill 7 has the potential to improve system flow while supporting patients waiting for LTC placement in available LTC beds. We know many of these issues are not new to our system, but we feel optimistic that the plan could provide the opportunity to work with our health care partners to make some leeway with patient flow and capacity. As well, it will provide some creative approaches to address health human resource shortages.
We know we have lots of work to do and we will continue to focus on those strategies from our Strategic Plan 2026, which also ties in nicely to the Province’s plan – found here in its entirety.
Operational Update
Looking to the immediate future, we are developing our proposal to increase surgical capacity to respond to our 27% increase (1000 patients) in cases waiting since the pandemic began. The ED has seen a 30% increase in volumes and has returned to pre-pandemic volumes with escalations in ambulance volumes and complexity of care presentations
At the same time as our volumes have been increasing, there have been notable shortages in staffing across the organization and we are working on recruitment and retention strategies while we adapt with model of care changes, the addition of externs, Internationally Educated Nurses, Unit Care Aides, Physician assistants, NPs etc.. These are not challenges unique to us here at TBRHSC. These are systemic, industry-wide challenges that we are facing. There is much work to do regarding these challenges. Incentives from government are a small step to assisting and we look forward to continuing our conversations with you to innovate change models to support this difficult situation.
Research & Clinical Care
Research that directly impacts patient care is so important to our Hospital and the care we provide. I am happy to inform, that over the last two years Dr. Elmansy, has been working in collaboration with others in our Hospital and NOSM University to propel us as a leader in surgical management and clinical research in the field of urology.
This leading research is not the only work being done in the field of urology. Both Dr. Elmansy and Dr. Shahrour have been working hard to advance care for the urology patients we serve throughout our region and bringing the latest treatments to our hospital. Together with many of our staff we are working towards building a world-class hub for urology care.
There is a lot of great work going on with research and clinical care – hopefully this sample of greatness entices you to learn more about clinical research or take part in any research opportunities as they become available.
Not So Random Acts of Kindness
I continue to be amazed by the kindness and generosity of our staff. Recently I was made aware of the Diagnostic Imaging (DI) Department “Paying it Forward” by donating funds to the Patient Clothing Cupboard. This donation was done in honour of one of their Physician colleagues, Dr. Midia, who frequently provides coffee and treats to his DI team. Dr. Midia’s acts of kindness was obviously contagious as the DI Team showed their generosity by donating to the Patient Clothing Cupboard.
This example of kindness is so meaningful and can be uplifting to so many, whether you are the recipient of clothes from the Patient Clothing Cupboard, the staff member donating to the cupboard or the one attempting to find clothing for your patient. Overall, their thoughtfulness brings joy to many and translates into a better workplace, which benefits us all – you can never underestimate the power of kindness, especially in the workplace.
Celebrating you!
Accreditation celebratory events and activities are taking place next week and in early September. Please take the time to attend one of the celebration dates in honour of all you do and our success with accreditation. We appreciate your work in making this milestone happen for our Hospital. Details can be found in the memo circulated on August 23rd or in Daily Informed. Thank you to all of you.
Final Thoughts
I know for most of you, this summer of all summers was not long enough. After 2.5 years of this pandemic, you are rightfully physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. Again – and it can’t be said enough – thank you for all that you do and all you have done for our communities.
Please look to the upcoming fall season and the sense of revitalization that comes with the start of a new school year and Fall in Northern Ontario – a truly magical time of year. I look forward to seeing many of you in the halls. We have many amazing opportunities ahead of us to continue to build on our successes and make our Hospital a great place to work and provide exceptional care. Despite the ongoing challenges we face, collectively I know we can make that happen.
You are always welcome to comment on this blog or connect with me for any other matter. You can reach me at: rhonda.ellacott@tbh.net.
Shared on behalf of Donna Jeanpierre, Manager, Volunteer Services
Please join me in welcoming the new interim Volunteer Coordinator, Sara Cicchitano.
Sara comes to this role with excellent experience and qualifications, including four years of experience with the Health Sciences Foundation where she worked closely with Foundation volunteers, as well as more recent experience in Human Resources.
As Volunteer Coordinator, Sara will support volunteers and the Volunteer Services department in volunteer recruitment, selection, orientation, training and support, scheduling, recognition and promotion of the hospital’s volunteer programs.
Sara also holds an Honors Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Education degree from Lakehead University and has completed the Human Resource Management Certificate with Confederation College last year.
Sara has volunteered in a number of roles in the community, including Camp Quality Northwestern Ontario, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation events, and Blues Fest Thunder Bay.
Shared on behalf of Katie Forbes, Manager, Labour & Delivery / Maternal Newborn
Karen graduated from Lakehead University in 1983 and was hired at McKellar Hospital where she took a position as a NICU/Well Baby Nursery nurse. When the hospitals amalgamated Karen took a position as a Maternal/Newborn nurse and remained there until her retirement in June 2022. Karen is respected by all of her colleagues for her knowledge and her attention to detail. Whenever there was a relatively quiet moment on the unit Karen could be found organizing various areas of the unit to make everything function more efficiently. It didn’t go unnoticed and we appreciate all you did for the unit.
On behalf of Karen’s friends and colleagues in the Women and Children’s Program, we want to commend Karen for her dedication and professionalism during her entire career as a registered nurse and we wish her all the best in her retirement. A truly great co-worker is hard to find, difficult to part with and impossible to forget!
