There are limited blue STAXI or other wheelchairs in the Main Lobby for patients and others, forcing them to wait until a chair is returned before they can get to their appointments in the Hospital.

The blue Staxi wheelchairs were purchased through funds from the Hospital and the Volunteer Association for the volunteers to use for the transport of patients and others to and from the Main Lobby.

If you see any blue Staxi wheelchairs in or around your unit/department/an in-patient room, please see that they are returned to the Main Lobby as soon as possible or contact the volunteer at ext. 4304.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Starting Monday, March 23, the ICP hallway and doors on the second floor will be getting painted.

This work is expected to be completed by the middle of the following week.

All hallways will remain open during the painting, please be aware when in the area.

Please see map below illustrating the area of work.

Any questions or concerns please contact Jeff MacDonald at jeffrey.macdonald@tbh.net.

Visit tbrhsc.dualcode.com to enroll.

Shared on behalf of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation

---

Rita, a breast cancer survivor, was well known in the pool community. She and her sisters enjoyed the sport together, playing in women’s and mixed leagues in halls around Thunder Bay – even winning trips to Las Vegas to compete in tournaments.

When Rita passed in 2021, her family decided to commemorate her love for life and fun by gathering people together to do what she loved best – hosting their first pool tournament in her honour in 2022.

This year on May 1 to 3, 2026 join us at Elks lodge for our 5^th annual Rita Bannon Memorial Pool Tournament. $50 entry fee for those who are playing, and $10 to enter into the party upstairs on Saturday!

For more information, please contact Daryl-Lynn at 807-251-3412 or d-gustafson@hotmail.ca.

Register for Northern Constellations 2026

The conference built for the people training Northern Ontario’s next health professionals.

---

Northern Constellations is NOSM University’s annual faculty and preceptor development conference — three days of hands-on learning, peer connection, and continuing medical education for educators and health professionals working in Northern Ontario. Participants will have opportunities to develop teaching and leadership skills, explore clinical best practices, and connect with colleagues from across the region.

This year’s theme, Adapting to our Changing Environment: Planetary Health, AI and Technology, anchors a program of keynote addresses, interactive workshops, simulation training, and a pre-conference Leadership Forum.

Register by March 22 to be entered in the VIP Early Registration Draw — prizes include travel reimbursement (up to $600), two nights of accommodation, and registration reimbursement.

Dates: April 30 – May 2, 2026 | Delta Toronto Airport Hotel, Toronto, ON

Register today: event.fourwaves.com/nc2026
Registration Deadline: April 23, 2026
VIP Early Registration Draw Deadline: March 22, 2026

For questions, please contact northernconstellations@nosm.ca.

Shared on behalf of Quality and Risk Management

---

Please be advised, we have revised the Hospital’s policy QM-80 Quality of Care Reviews.

Actions Required       

Managers – Review this memo and the attached poster with your staff during Safety/Quality Huddles and post in your department. The approved updated policy is attached for reference and is now available on the iNtranet.  

Key Policy Changes         

Policy Statement Change: Focus on “Patient Safety” changed to “Just Culture”, and learners added to the employees listed.       

New Definitions Added:

• Clinical Debrief (aka “Hot Debrief”): Following a critical incident, a meeting to summarize the case, determine what went well and opportunities for improvement, and to highlight where actions are required.
• Critical Incident: Unintended event, resulting in death or serious disability, injury or harm, and does not result from patient’s underlying medical condition or from a known risk inherent in providing treatment.
• Incident Triage Team (ITT): A group of leadership who will meet within 48-72 hours of a critical incident to determine if a Quality of Care (QOC) Review is required, and if so, what type of review.
• QOC Reviews: Further defined as Departmental Reviews, Morbidity & Mortality (M&M) Reviews, Critical Incident and Process Reviews for systemic issues.     

Procedural Updates:

• Procedure 5.1:Updated to include reference to ITT.
• Procedure 5.2 & 5.3: Clarification provided regarding Quality of Care Information Protection Act (QCIPA)-protected reviews.
• Procedure 6.2: Insertion of Clinical Debriefing process.
• Procedure 6.3: Updated requirements of review and classification of incident.
• Procedure 6.4: Insertion of process for consultation with ITT and determining necessity of QOC review.
• Procedure 6.8: Clarification to whom information pertaining to reviews can be disclosed.
• Procedure 7: References updated; information on debriefing included.
• Appendix A: Incident Review Process Flowchart.
• Appendix B: Clinical Debriefing Guide (S.T.O.P.).

Key Process Reminders

Please see the attached poster. Please email us should you have any questions at TBRHSC.QualityandRiskManagement@tbh.net.

Shared on behalf of Ryan Sears, Code Grey Executive Sponsor

---

The Hospital has finalized a new sub-category response plan policy to provide key information regarding roles and responsibilities related to hazard specific disruptions to water and drainage. This sub category response plan policy directly supports the overarching Code Grey – Infrastructure Disruption or Failure (EMER-10B) policy.

New Sub-Category Response Plan Policy

• A loss or disruption of water or drainage will impact various elements of Hospital operations depending on the scale and scope (i.e., boil water advisory for a particular contaminate versus a full loss of water across the building).

• The Code Grey – Water or Drainage (EMER-10B-5) policy provides key information regarding responsibilities applicable to specific roles during such incidents, as well as instructions for all staff.

• This policy obsoletes Boil Water Advisory (CPO-07).

Actions Required

1.      Read this memo and review the new sub-category response plan policy to familiarize yourself with important process changes.

2.      Managers to ensure that the new sub-category response plan policy is added to their area’s emergency binder(s) and that all workers review the attached diagram and policy.

Process Reminders

• Code Grey applies to incidents where the Hospital experiences a significant unplanned disruption or loss of essential services, such as any utility or the use of hospital facilities.

• Upon discovery of a significant infrastructure disruption or failure:

o    Report failure to your Supervisor.

o    Supervisor will confirm and notify Switchboard at “55.”

o    Switchboard will announce: “Code Grey – Alert – [Type and Location]”.

o    Incident Manager or designate will advise Switchboard when to announce it is Confirmed.

Please note that additional sub-category response plan policies are currently in development to address each of the failure types recognized in the Code Grey – Infrastructure scope definition (see Sec. 3 of EMER-10B).

If you have any questions, please reach out to Mēsha Richard, Lead, Emergency Preparedness (ext. 6552 or mesha.richard@tbh.net)

Shared on behalf of Adam Vinet, VP, Patient Experience, CNE & RVP, Regional Cancer Care

---

The rate of Influenza Like Illness (ILI) in Thunder Bay and Region have significantly reduced over the past several weeks. In light of the decreased ILI activity, the Hospital will be moving to Level 2 masking protocols.

Starting Monday, March 16, 2026, mandatory masking will decrease from Level 3 to Level 2 across all inpatient units, outpatient departments and patient-facing clinical areas within the hospital.

With this change, all Staff, Professional Staff, Learners, Volunteers and Essential Care Partner’s (ECPs)/Care Partner’s (CPs) must wear a minimum Level 3 procedure mask when entering every patient room, exam rooms or other patient-facing care spaces, and when unable to maintain 6ft physical distancing standards.

All ECPs/CPs visiting inpatient rooms, must wear a minimum Level 3 procedure mask when entering a patient’s room and at any time they are unable to maintain 6ft physical distancing standards.

All Staff, Professional Staff, Learners, Volunteers and ECPs/CPs are encouraged to exercise their own risk analysis and level of comfort for masking above the minimum requirements. Masking is required at all times for anyone who fails self-screening and their presence is essential at the hospital and/or masking is deemed necessary based on IPAC protocols. ECPs/CPs are discouraged from visiting the Hospital if they are experiencing symptoms of a communicable illness.

Masks will continue to be made available at all public/staff entrances on the sanitizing stands, as well as at the unit/department level should you or a member of the public require a mask.

Staff, Professional Staff, Learners, Volunteers and ECPs/CPs will continue to wear a Level 3 procedure mask at all times while on the Acute Oncology wing of 1A, for protection of the patients. In order to reduce the spread of communicable diseases we encourage everyone to follow proper hand hygiene techniques.

Thank you for your commitment to keeping our patients, staff and Hospital safe. If you have any questions, please ask your manager or reach out to IPAC at extension 6094 for further details on best practices.

Shared on behalf of Crystal Edwards, Director, Women & Children’s and Mental Health Programs

---

I am pleased to announce that Jason Cooper has accepted the position of Manager, Forensic Mental Health Program effective March 23, 2026.

Jason has been serving as the Acting Manager for the Forensic Mental Health program since the fall, following a brief transition as the Coordinator for the Mental Health Program. During this time, he has provided steady leadership and continuity for the team. Prior to these leadership roles, he worked as the Patient Care Coordinator for Adult Mental Health for the past five years.

Jason brings more than 20 years of clinical experience as a Registered Nurse working the majority of his career in acute mental health settings. Over the years he has gained valuable experience in a wide variety of environments, including Thunder Bay Corrections, the District Jail, and the Adult Mental Health Unit here at TBRHSC. These diverse experiences have provided Jason with a strong understanding of the complexities of mental health care across both hospital and justice systems.

Throughout his nursing career, Jason has demonstrated a deep passion and commitment to supporting individuals living with and experiencing mental illness. He has developed extensive knowledge of the Mental Health Act and other relevant legislation and understands the intersection of mental health care and the provincial justice system.

In his leadership roles, Jason has consistently demonstrated humanistic leadership, focused on building meaningful relationships. He is known for his approachable manner, collaborative approach, and his ability to communicate with professionalism, clarity, and respect. Jason is committed to fostering a culture of safety, collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement while supporting his teams in delivering compassionate, evidence-informed care.

Please join me in congratulating Jason on this well-deserved appointment and in welcoming him to this role on a permanent basis.

Shared on behalf of Information Technology

---

On Thursday, March 12, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre experienced a Code Grey that affected network services, including internet connectivity and some cloud-based applications.

The disruption was identified through system monitoring and staff reports. Our technical teams worked with our vendor and regional partners to investigate and isolate the issue. Corrective actions were implemented and systems were stabilized.

During the disruption, clinical and non-clinical teams followed Code Grey procedures and contingency workflows to maintain operations and ensure continuity of patient care. Your teamwork and commitment to patient safety helped ensure care continued with minimal disruption.

All systems have now been fully restored and are operating normally, and staff may resume regular work activities. Our teams have verified functionality across key applications and network systems; however, if you encounter any issues, please contact the IT Help Desk so they can be addressed promptly.

A post-incident review will be conducted to identify opportunities to strengthen system resilience, and any lessons learned will be shared.

Thank you to all staff for your professionalism, patience, and collaboration during this event.