As the impact of heart failure (HF) continues to grow across Canada and throughout the world, it is becoming increasingly important in raising awareness among patients and their families. With the aim to improve the quality of life for people living with HF, this year’s campaign will focus on self-management and self-care in a virtual world. Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) hosts programs that support heart failure patients including the Heart Failure Remote Patient Monitoring Program and Cardiac Rehabilitation.

What is heart failure?

Heart failure is a complex syndrome which occurs when the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the needs of the body. Common symptoms include shortness of breath, leg swelling and fatigue. There are many reasons why someone may develop heart failure. The most common causes of heart failure include coronary artery disease and high blood pressure.

Self-care in a virtual world: What you need to know about self-managing heart failure

Did you know that heart failure is on the rise? In Canada there are over 750,000 people living with heart failure which affects people of all ages. Over 90,000 people are diagnosed with heart failure each year in Canada. By 2030, it is expected to cost the Canadian economy $2.8 billion per year. Surprisingly, many people do not understand heart failure. More than 1 in 4 Canadians do not know what heart failure is, and almost half incorrectly think it can be cured. It is more important then ever to be responsible for your own care. There is a lot you can do to live well with heart failure.

What you can do to promote self-care and self-management

• Monitor your symptoms and report any change to your health care provider
• Reduce salt in your diet
• Increase your daily activity
• Seek peer support
• Keep your blood pressure low
• Follow up with your physician
• Stop smoking
• Take your medications as prescribed

Work with your health care team to learn if you are at risk of heart failure. Ask what you can do to help prevent this condition from worsening.

Self-management is team effort

Even though heart failure cannot be cured, there are treatments that can help people feel better and live longer. They often need help from a number of health care providers, family members, and they also need to be active partners in their care. Together you can build a plan that supports your needs and goals.

Become an active partner in your virtual care

• People living with heart failure need to pay extra attention to their salt and fluid intake, eat a healthy diet, stay active, take their medication as prescribed, and be smoke free.
• Learn about your symptoms of heart failure – they may not be the same as someone else with heart failure. Ask your health care team what you can do to help prevent your heart failure symptoms from getting worse.
• Be patient with yourself – learning to live with heart failure takes time. Share your feelings and talk about your concerns with your health care team.
• Join support groups and share your experience. Talking with your peers can help relieve some of the stress, pressure, and anxiety.

For more information, visit Heart failure | Heart and Stroke Foundation or read this patient handout.

For more information on TBRHSC programs, visit www.tbrhsc.net.

---

The Heart & Stroke and HeartLife Foundation are offering a free webinar on Tuesday, May 5, 2026 @ 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. EST

Bridging Heart Failure Care: Recognizing Signs and Symptoms, Reducing Risks and Managing Connected Conditions

Audience: Health care professionals, persons with lived experience, caregivers, and members of the public.

This free event is an open invitation and may be forwarded to interested parties. All are welcome to join.

Presenters:

• Dr. Morgan Krauter, DN, NP
• Dr. Daniel Ngui, BSc, PT, MD, FCFP
• Joel Buenacruz, Person with Lived Experience of Heart Failure

Register here.

Accreditation Canada surveyors will be visiting Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre from May 11-14, 2026 to assess how well we are providing safe and effective care that aligns with national standards.

What Does it Mean to Me?

Accreditation involves everyone at TBRHSC. We all play a role in delivering the highest standards of care to our patients, and families — each and every day.

For more information and resources, visit the Accreditation 2026 page on the corporate intranet page.

Test Your Knowledge

There will be weekly trivia questions related to the Accreditation survey. Test your knowledge here: Accreditation Trivia:  May 4 – May 10

Did you know that Accreditation surveyors are experienced health care professionals, often in leadership roles, who bring clinical and operational expertise to assess quality, safety, and best practices?  They observe and assess clinical and administrative processes through “tracers” which follow the journey of a patient, staff member, or process from start to finish.

What happens during an on-site survey? Surveyors observe and assess clinical and administrative processes through “tracers.” A tracer follows the journey of a patient, staff member, or process from start to finish. Example: An ER tracer follows a patient from triage to discharge to assess timeliness, safety, and quality of care. An HR tracer may follow the hiring process—from job posting to orientation and staff experience. The goal is to understand how care and services are delivered in real time and how well we meet Accreditation standards.

Who are the surveyors? Surveyors are experienced healthcare professionals, often in leadership roles, who bring clinical and operational expertise to assess quality, safety, and best practices.

For more information about our upcoming Accreditation, please click here.

Accreditation Canada surveyors will be visiting Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre from May 11-14, 2026 to assess how well we are providing safe and effective care that aligns with national standards.

What does it mean to me?

Accreditation involves everyone at TBRHSC. We all play a role in delivering the highest standards of care to our patients, and families — each and every day.

For more information and resources, visit the Accreditation 2026 page on the corporate intranet page.

The Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre is hosting A Walk for Healing – Heartbeat of the Drum on May 10, 2026, beginning at 10:00 a.m. at Waverly Park and walking down Red River Road to Marina Park. This walk honours Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and carries forward the legacy of Frances Wesley’s original 2016 walk.

The more voices we have spreading the word, the stronger our community showing will be. Please feel free to post the poster on your bulletin boards, social media, and share it with anyone who may want to join us.

Bring your drums, rattles, and voices.

On May 1, we proudly recognize National Physicians’ Day, an opportunity to celebrate the dedication, compassion, and expertise of the professional staff at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC).

Every day, physicians make a meaningful impact on the lives of patients, families, and colleagues across our Hospital and region. Their commitment to excellence in patient care, innovation in practice, and leadership within our teams helps shape a stronger, more responsive health care system for the communities we serve.

National Physicians’ Day is not only a time to acknowledge clinical expertise, but also to reflect on the empathy, resilience, and collaboration that define TBRHSC physicians’ work. Whether at the bedside, in the operating room, in clinics, or supporting education and research, their contributions are deeply valued and appreciated.

To all of our physicians; thank you for your unwavering commitment, your leadership, and the care you provide to our patients and community.

Congratulations Kristin Spafford from Medical Affairs! She is the winner of last week’s Accreditation Trivia.  Kristin won a $25 gift card to Eat Local Pizza.

Keep an eye on iNformed for the weekly Accreditation Trivia question for your chance to win.

Accreditation Trivia – Previous Questions and Answers

Week 1 Question: What are the four pillars of the Strategic Plan?

Answer: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Patient Experience; Staff Experience; Research, Innovation and Learning

Week 2 Question: How do you report a patient safety incident or near miss?

Answer: Patient Safety Reporting console (Incident Learning System [ILS])

Week 3 Question: How do you report workplace violence?

Answer:

If an employee is harmed, Employee Incident Reporting System (OH&S Incident System) (part of the Incident Learning System [ILS])

If a patient is harmed, Patient Safety Reporting console (also part of the Incident Learning System [ILS])

And always report to your supervisor.

All of the above. 

The Moose Hide Campaign began in 2011 along the Highway of Tears in northern British Columbia, when co-founders Paul Lacerte and his daughter Raven Lacerte took a hunting trip that inspired a national movement. Deeply impacted by the ongoing crisis of violence against Indigenous women and girls, they created the campaign as a way for men and boys to take a stand and be part of the solution.

Today, the Moose Hide Campaign is a Canada-wide movement that invites all Canadians to commit to ending gender-based violence. Wearing a small square of moose hide symbolizes a personal pledge to honour, respect, and protect the women and children in our lives. It also encourages meaningful conversations, reflection, and action toward reconciliation and safer communities for Indigenous Peoples.

Participating in the Moose Hide Campaign is a simple but powerful way to show solidarity and support a future free from violence.

TBRHSC will be hosting an information board and will have Moosehide pins available for staff to take and wear on Wednesday, May 6 from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., on the 2^nd floor across from the Gift Shop. Stop by and show your support for this important cause.

To learn more: https://moosehidecampaign.ca/

Click to register for the livestream event held on Thursday, May 14: https://moosehidecampaign.ca/campaignday/

Hello, Boozhoo, Bonjour.

I would like to begin this month’s Blog by letting you know about some of the challenges surrounding our budget, preparing you for accreditation, and acknowledging what the past few months have looked like across our organization.

We are four months into the calendar year and our capacity pressures continue. A prolonged flu and RSV season have pushed volumes up at a time when the broader system is already under pressure. We all recognize and appreciate the hard work and extra efforts of our teams to support the continuing patient flow and transitions. We will continue to work with our partners, including Ontario Health to problem solve and ensure patients receive timely care in the most appropriate setting.

On the topic of system pressures, as you may recall in my past blogs and Town Halls, I referenced budgetary processes. The Ministry has directed every Ontario hospital to find a path to a balanced budget over the next three years. Cuts at other hospitals across the province have been in the news, and the Ministry has told each and every hospital in the province to find low-risk savings that will help to modernize and strengthen the health care system for sustainability, while not impacting quality of care and access. We are working with Ontario Health and our partners to identify those savings. We do struggle with this work as we are the only regional tertiary academic hospital in Northwestern Ontario, operating with fewer resources than most of our peers serving smaller populations.

While I do not have all the answers today and this can feel unsettling, please know that I will keep you informed as decisions take shape, and tell you what I know when I know it. If you have ideas about efficiency in your area, send them to me. Many a times, frontline staff see things leadership does not. This will be a team effort.

Our Accreditation Survey is almost upon us. In two weeks it is our chance to showcase the important work that we do here each and every day. During the week of May 11^th, surveyors will be walking around our facility, talking to staff and observe interactions with patients and families. Please take the opportunity to review the posted information at your unit and at the link here. If a surveyor approaches you, speak to the work you do every day. If you do not know an answer, say so and refer them to your supervisor or unit leader. That is a professional response. Accreditation is a chance to show outside reviewers what we already know about ourselves.

We all have a role to play in shaping the patient experience. Through the Family CARE grants program some of you have submitted ideas to better our care and the overall experience through funding support by the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation. When those grants come through and a unit gets a piece of equipment or a program improvement that makes care better, I want to be clear in recognizing the donors who make it happen. I am talking about the person who bought a 50/50 ticket because they believe in this Hospital. The family that wrote a cheque after a loved one was treated here. The estate gift from someone who is no longer with us but wanted their final act to be one of generosity to this region. Those are the people who fund the improvements you see at the bedside. They support us because they believe in the hard work that you all do.

Every piece of donor-funded equipment in this Hospital exists because someone decided that the people of Northwestern Ontario deserved better. So, when you see a Family CARE Grant land on your unit, take a moment to remember that it came from a person who cares and wanted to help you do your job better.

To every staff member, professional staff member, volunteer and learner here, thank you. Every day, you do make a difference.

As always, you can reach me directly at rhonda.ellacott@tbh.net. I appreciate hearing from you.

Congratulations to April’s Patient and Family Centered Care Shout Out (Volunteer Edition) Winners, Cathi McIlwain and Rosetta Brizzi!

Cathi is a dedicated volunteer with the Cancer Clinic at TBRHSC who brings compassion, warmth and a light that truly brightens the experience of our patients. Whether she’s offering a listening ear or quietly providing a coffee and a treat to someone, Cathi meets each person exactly where they are with kindness, empathy, and grace. She also provides that same care to the staff, stepping in wherever she can to lend a hand and allowing them to focus more fully on patient care. Cathi’s genuine joy and a heartfelt desire to help make a meaningful difference in the patient experience create a comforting presence for everyone she meets.

Rosetta is a long-time volunteer at TBRHSC and has received recognition from staff and patients for her dedication and compassion within the Paediatric department. Rosetta consistently goes above and beyond in her role, demonstrating a genuine commitment to supporting children and their families during what can often be challenging times. Through thoughtful actions and small gestures, Rosetta’s presence enhances the Paediatric environment and supports the emotional wellbeing of those in care, bringing joy, distraction, and reassurance to patients, and helping to create a more positive and less intimidating Hospital experience.