Chair, Board of Directors, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre

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With children back in school and our communities back from summer vacation, I truly hope the residents of Northwestern Ontario took the opportunity to enjoy our immense natural wonders and safely reconnect with friends and loved ones over the past few months. A year and a half of this historic pandemic has undoubtedly tested everyone’s resolve and mental endurance.

At the same time, I would like to begin by acknowledging and thanking our frontline health care workers and senior leaders who had very little downtime the past few months as the fourth wave of the pandemic continued. As you know, health care doesn’t take holidays and our staff and working as hard today as they were when this pandemic began. They continue to earn our respect and admiration on a daily basis.

As we look forward, there are encouraging indicators. Our region proudly boasts a population that is 84 percent fully vaccinated with 90 percent of our residents having received their first dose. The hard work of our vaccination team has also seen TBRHSC reach the top tier of vaccination efforts with an amazing 95 percent inoculation rate among staff. We continue to work on educating the unvaccinated on the benefits as we know the double vaccine is currently the best defense against COVID-19.

In addition, this autumn will see the presentation and release of our Strategic Plan. It contains five pillars of focus: Patient Experience, Research Education and Innovation, Staff Experience, Advancing Technology and Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. This Strategic Plan will help guide us through the next five years as we strive for success while delivering the highest level of patient satisfaction and institutional prominence as we look to 2026 and beyond.

A key aspect of our upcoming Strategic Plan relates to enhancing the health care experience at TBRHSC for Indigenous people – something we have already started actioning. Our Strategic Plan will be guided by a philosophy that takes a holistic approach to health. Good health is the body, mind, and spirit. All aspects must be taken into consideration when we are providing  care. In the spirit of patient-centered care, and truth and reconciliation, we will not be content doing things to – and for – patients. Instead, we will strive to do things with patients, recognizing that they are full partners in health care.

Last week, as you know, was marked by the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, on September 30th. Reconciliation begins with acknowledging the truth. As part of our commitment to truth and reconciliation, we will work toward creating an environment at TBRHSC that acknowledges the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and to apply them as a lens to every decision we make as an institution. In doing so, we will be assured of delivering the highest levels of compassion, inclusion and health care to every person and patient we see and treat.

I would like to encourage everyone to stay safe and continue to follow provincial health and public health directives as we move from fall into winter.

Sent on behalf of Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott, President and CEO, TBRHSC and CEO, TBRHRI

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I am pleased to share that effective November 8, 2021, Jennifer Wintermans will be joining Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) as our Executive Vice President (EVP), Communications, and Corporate Relations.

In this position, Jennifer will serve as an integral member of the Senior Leadership Council (SLC) and be responsible for critical areas like Stakeholder Relations, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Government Relations, and Communications.

Jennifer is currently the Vice President, System Strategy, Planning, Design and Implementation with Ontario Health North. Jennifer has also been the Vice President, System Transformation, Integration and Quality with Ontario Health North and Director of Communications, Privacy and Regulatory Affairs with the North West Local Health Integration Network / Ontario Health North.

Jennifer is a knowledgeable health care professional and leader with over 25 years of experience in the Canadian and American Health Care System who has been recognized for her complex system thinking and leadership, analytical and process-oriented continuous quality improvement execution and guiding teams and coalitions to efficient and successful translation of strategy into action and sustainable adoption.

Jennifer has undergraduate degrees in Nursing and Communications, and holds a Master of Business Administration with a Health Care Specialization. A life-long learner, she has certifications in Risk Management, Information Privacy Management, Health Care Emergency Management and Palliative Care.

Please join me in welcoming Jennifer to TBRHSC.

Sent on behalf of Peter Myllymaa, Executive Vice President, Corporate Services & Operations, TBRHSC

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It is with mixed emotions that I announce that Mieke De Roover, Manager, Health Records & FOI/Privacy is resigning from her position at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC).

Mieke has been with TBRHSC since February, 2003. The leadership and management that she has demonstrated in both Health Records and Privacy has been invaluable and will be extremely difficult to replace. For those of you who have had the opportunity to work with Mieke, you know she is extremely talented, dedicated and professional. She has made my job much easier, and I have relied heavily on her expertise and professional opinion over the last several years. Mieke’s final day here will be October 22, 2021.

Please join me in congratulating Mieke as she continues her career at North Bay Regional Health Centre, allowing her to be closer to her family.

Mieke, congratulations, and you will be missed!

This week’s Employee Donor Spotlight shines on Barbara from Laboratory Specimen Procurement Dispatch. She’s been a donor for 17 years!

Barbara says “I have been an employee donor since the day I started working at the hospital and I am so proud to be a donor. I give to help create better outcomes for healthcare.”

Thank you, Barbara!

Employee Donors are Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre staff who donate through payroll deductions, helping to fund Hospital equipment in the area that means the most to them. Their dedication to better local healthcare is shown in both the hard work they do and their donations ?? Thank you to Tbaytel, who matches annual Employee Donor contributions up to $7,500!

If you’re a Hospital employee you can sign up, too! Learn more at www.healthsciencesfoundation.ca/imin

Sent on behalf of Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott, President & CEO, TBRHSC, CEO, TBRHRI and Dr. Peter Voros, EVP, Patient Care Programs and Regional Vice President, Cancer Services, North West Regional Cancer Program, TBRHSC

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On July 1, 2021, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) initiated a temporary closure of 32 of the 64 beds at the Transitional Care Unit (TCU) in response to downward trending Alternate Level of Care (ALC) to Long-term Care (LTC) patient volumes, and to support acute care staffing challenges at the main TBRHSC site.

The impact of this closure has been assessed regularly over the last three months and based on current system flow trends and ongoing staffing requirements the temporary closure of these beds will continue for now.

We recognize the importance of working collaboratively with our system partners as we navigate current and future patient care demands while we continue to actively monitor the strategy. As we do this, we will ensure we are able to quickly respond to any change in the patient care demand. We are committed to ensuring that patients are receiving the appropriate level of care in the most suitable care environment. Moving forward, we will consider transitional care bed needs are reflected and aligned with our overall system capacity assessment, models and levels of care, and available health human resources.

Thank you for your continued support.

October 3-9, 2021 has been declared as National Health Care Supply Chain Week by the Association for Health Care Resource and Materials Management (AHRMM). This week provides an opportunity for us to recognize and celebrate the hardworking health care supply chain professionals for their selfless dedication to high-quality patient care and exceptional contributions to our Hospital and community.

This year’s theme is “Health Care Supply Chain | Strategic Partner in Care Delivery”. Through every challenge the health care supply chain has faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen incredible collaboration and maximizing scare resources through a formation of strategic alliances – the true embodiment of advancing health care through supply chain excellence. Please join us in thanking Supply Chain and Procurement staff members for their contributions not just during the public health crisis but every day.

Event Link: https://laurentian.zoom.us/j/93352884134?pwd=VWZWR2w1YjY5TXlocU9OMXpMRHl0QT09#success

Sonography Week (October 3-9) is an opportunity to recognize and promote the profession of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ultrasound) which plays a vital role in the care and treatment of community members.

Sonographers are medical detectives.  They use their ultrasound training, technical skills, and understanding of the human body and its systems to decide if structures are normal or abnormal and adapt their investigation as they find clues throughout an examination.  This information is then used by doctors to determine the necessary treatment or next steps for the patient.

A sonographer uses an instrument called a transducer or probe on a patient over the area of the body under investigation. The probe emits high-frequency sound which is inaudible to the human ear. As the probe is moved around it records echoes as sound waves bounce back to the ultrasound machine to determine size, shape and consistency of soft tissues. This information is relayed in real-time to produce images on a computer screen.

The quality of an ultrasound exam is very dependent on the skills of the sonographer who completed the scan.  If they are not a great detective who takes in all the evidence and finds all the clues, then it is difficult to solve the case. As well, no two cases are ever the same, so a sonographer’s day is never dull.

Sonography is a growing, dynamic profession and sonographers are in demand in hospitals, medical imaging clinics and tertiary healthcare facilities.  Many sonographers are also employed as educators, application specialists or sales representatives with medical equipment manufacturing firms, or as researchers.

Did you know?

• The gooey gel that people relate to ultrasound exams is necessary for sound waves to travel between the probe and the patient.
• Ultrasound exams can last between 20 and 60 minutes with the sonographer in very close proximity to the patient.
• Not all sonographers perform all types of exams. Learning different body systems requires special training and separate written and clinical examinations. Students graduate with knowledge of basic exams and can then further their specialization and knowledge if they desire.
• At TBRHSC, pregnancy ultrasound is a very small portion of our workload. Most exams at our site relate to abdomen, pelvic, arterial & venous, breast, scrotal, prostate, thyroid, neonatal brain and muscle and tendon studies.

The sonography programs in Canada vary in focus and length. Individuals can be trained in three areas: generalist, cardiac or vascular sonography. For more information and a list of accredited training programs, visit the Sonography Canada website: https://sonographycanada.ca/

Most sonographers LOVE ultrasound and love talking about it, so next time you come across one of these allied health professionals, ask them about their dynamic career.

Fire Prevention Week (October 4-8) is a great opportunity to review your department’s Code Red sub-plan. This year’s Fire Prevention Week theme is ‘Learn the Sounds of Fire Safety‘. Do you know what our Hospital’s Code Red alarm activation and notification sequence sounds like? Visit section 5.1 of the EMER-30 Code Red-Fire Alarm policy to better understand the different alerts and announcements associated with Code Red.

Remember, safety starts at home. By law, every home in Ontario must have a working smoke alarm on every storey and outside all sleeping areas however, too often fatal fires in Ontario occur in homes where there were no working smoke alarms.

Testing alarms produces a beep, the sound of alarms in an emergency. Replace the batteries if the alarms do not sound when the test button is pushed. If the alarms still don’t sound, replace the alarms.

Testing your alarms is the only way to ensure they are working and that you and your family can be alerted in the event of a fire.

For more information about home fire safety, visit Thunder Bay Fire Rescue: https://www.thunderbay.ca/en/city-services/fire-safety-education.aspx