Sent on behalf of Dr. Peter Voros, Executive VP, Patient Care Programs, Regional VP, Cancer Services, North West Regional Cancer Program
Screening is one of the infection prevention measures that can help slow the spread of COVID-19. In accordance with recommendations from the Ministry of Health, and effective immediately, the following changes have been made to the Hospital’s COVID-19 entrance screening questions on the Redcap app and the print version self-screening tool.
The symptoms of sore throat, headache, hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing, runny nose/sneezing, gastrointestinal symptoms, nasal congestion have been removed. The new question will read as follows:
Are you experiencing ANY of the following new or worsening symptoms: Fever, Cough, Difficulty Breathing, Muscle Aches, Fatigue, Chills, Change in Sense of Smell/Taste and if under the age of 18 also include: Gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea)? YES / NO
To support both workers and managers in compliance with the Hospital’s COVID-19 vaccination program, the question about vaccination declarations has been revised to read as follows:
I attest that I am compliant with one of the following:
I have provided proof that I am fully vaccinated to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) (definition: fully vaccinated is defined as individuals who are 14 days past their final dose of Health Canada-approved vaccine).
I am following the Rapid Antigen testing protocol offered by my employer.
I have been temporarily excluded from asymptomatic testing by OHS as recommended by the Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU).
YES / NO
Please ensure you read each screening question carefully to ensure safe and accurate admittance.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Prevention & Screening Clinical Services at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC), in partnership with Ontario Health-Cancer Care Ontario (OH-CCO), is encouraging eligible Ontarians ages 50 to 74 years old to talk to their family doctor or nurse practitioner about getting checked for breast cancer.
Studies have shown the pandemic has had a negative impact on breast screenings with a 41 per cent drop in cancer screening tests in Ontario in 2020 compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels. Fortunately, those statistics are starting to bounce back. For example, in June 2021, monthly breast screening tests were about 9 per cent above June 2019 levels.
“We have been taking all measures to stay safe during the pandemic, including staying home, but getting checked for breast cancer is still important,” said Dr. Nicole Zavagnin, Regional Primary Care Lead for OH-CCO at TBRHSC. “Health care providers and hospitals are taking all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of patients and staff. We encourage you to get screened and make sure you stay up-to-date with your breast cancer screening.”
Every year, approximately 12,000 Ontario women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 2,000 will die from it. Regular screening is important because it can find breast cancer early when treatment has a better chance of working.
“Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Ontario women, but more people in Ontario survive breast cancer than almost every other cancer,” said Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott, President and CEO of TBRHSC and CEO of Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute. “This is an important month and I’m encouraging people to get checked and see their doctor.”
The Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP) provides breast cancer screening throughout Ontario to two groups of women: those at average risk and those at high risk. The OBSP recommends that:
Most people ages 50 to 74 who are eligible for the OBSP get checked every two years with a mammogram.
People ages 30 to 69 who meet the High Risk OBSP eligibility criteria get checked once a year with both a mammogram and breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (or screening breast ultrasound if MRI is not medically appropriate).
People ages 70 to 74 who are already in the High Risk OBSP get checked once a year with a mammogram through the program.
Breast cancer screening is a service available to all eligible women in Ontario, and mammograms can be booked without a health care provider’s referral. In our region, mammograms are offered at 5 permanent locations and via mobile service:
Fort Frances: Riverside Health Care, call (807) 274-4804.
Kenora: Lake of the Woods District Hospital, call (807) 684-7777.
Sioux Lookout: Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre, call (807) 737-6579.
Thunder Bay: The Linda Buchan Centre at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, call (807) 684-7777 or Thunder Bay Diagnostics call (807) 683-4411.
Screen for Life Coach: a mobile cancer screening service that travels across our region in the warmer months and offers its services in Thunder Bay over the winter, call (807) 684-7777.
Talk to your family doctor or nurse practitioner about your breast health and screening test options. To learn more, visit www.tbrhsc.net/cancerscreening. If you live in a First Nation community, contact your nursing station or health centre for more information.
Dear Staff, Professional Staff, Learners, Volunteers, Researchers, and Board members — greetings, boozhoo, and bonjour.
I know you are all very busy, so I will try to be efficient with this month’s blog.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
First and foremost, I am sure you have seen some of our other communications regarding today being the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It’s a day that honours the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families and communities. I was moved today when I saw so many people wearing orange shirts, since September 30th is also Orange Shirt Day — an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day based on the experience of Phyllis Webstad, a Northern Secwpemc (Shuswap) from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation. On her first day of school, she arrived dressed in a new orange shirt, which was taken from her. It is now a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.
I want to encourage everyone to take a few moments today to reflect on the meaning of this day and how people in our region have been, and continue to be, impacted. The Federal Government has some resources to help this process: https://bit.ly/BeginYourLearningJourney
I would also like to speak to our commitment to reflection, improvement and change across our Health Sciences Centre and Health Research Institute. Through our Strategic Plan engagement, we have often spoken about the need and opportunity to make our organization a more safe and welcoming environment for Indigenous people. The work and improvements therein will be directed through our Strategic Plan and embedded in the work we do.
Together, it is all of our responsibility and I look forward to working with our partners, communities and all of our people to make improvements for the future.
Strategic Planning
Despite the pressures and volume on the Hospital, we continue to work forward on the Strategic Plan. We are working to set aspirational goals for our strategic areas of focus and working on the actions and initiatives necessary to achieve our goals. In addition, to ensure we are getting this right, we are working on further engagement throughout the process. We are planning on further key engagement activities through October with a final plan expected to be brought forward to our respective Boards of Directors in November of this year.
COVID-19
As we know, this latest phase of COVID-19 has really turned into a pandemic of the unvaccinated as they represent most hospitalized cases in Ontario. With that said, I want to say how incredibly proud I am that Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC)/Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute (TBRHRI), is at an almost 95% vaccination rate with two doses. This is an incredible achievement. I would also like to take the opportunity to strongly encourage those who have not been vaccinated to reconsider. We know that vaccination is the best way to fight COVID-19 and we want you to stay healthy.
Meanwhile, as we are following the advice of the Science Table – we are training and preparing our staff and our organization in the event that we see an increase in COVID-19 admissions in the paediatric population (under age 12). Given the provincial modelling, we know that the fourth wave suggests an increase in paediatric cases. As such, we are readying ourselves accordingly. We are also closely monitoring community COVID-19 cases and our overall Assessment Centre volume. This week, we did see an increase in visits to TBRHSC’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre as we hit a peak in volume of 320 assessments on Monday, September 27th. We will continue to monitor all aspects of COVID-19 to ensure, as always, that we are ready to pivot and respond to the patient care needs of our community and region.
Ontario Health Visit
We had a recent visit from the President & CEO of Ontario Health, Matt Anderson. It is always beneficial to have one of our key provincial stakeholders visit us on site. This visit enabled us to profile our organization and our regional specialized services role – while demonstrating our current and ongoing funding needs related to COVID-19 recovery. In addition, we took the opportunity to identify the critical transformation and restoration work necessary post COVID-19 – and highlight opportunities in areas such as regional surgery and mental health. We also profiled the excellent work of the organization across many of our programs and services, highlighted several capital projects in development such as Cardiovascular Surgery (CVS), Positron Emission Tomography (PET)/Linac, and Mental Health-Emergency Department (MH-ED), while working to support innovation and care options to transform and improve the overall patient experience.
Final Thoughts
As I have updated you over the months, we have been undergoing some organizational changes aimed at aligning our structure with our work on our strategic plan. This is critical to ensuring we achieve our strategic goals and priorities. With that in mind, some of you may have seen our posting for an Executive Vice-President (EVP), Communications, and Corporate Relations. This position 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. As we move forward, we will need to continue our journey to connect our Strategy and Structure going forward to ensure optimal organizational effectiveness, while aligning and ensuring the delivery of our new strategic priorities.
Please allow me to conclude this blog by simply saying thank you. I feel like I can’t say it enough. After 18 months, I know many of you are tired and that is understandable. Our communities have depended on you to be there for them, and you have risen to the challenge time and time again. Knowing you have families of your own to worry about and care for makes your service to this region greater than the average person can even fathom. Thank you, sincerely.
As always, I welcome comments on this blog or any other matter. You can reach me at: crockerelr@tbh.net
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30th) honours the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families and communities. Thank you to all Hospital staff, professional staff, volunteers and learners who participated in today’s ceremony. It was moving to see so many people wearing orange shirts, for September 30th is also Orange Shirt Day — an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day based on the experience of Phyllis Webstad, a Northern Secwpemc (Shuswap) from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation. On her first day of school, she arrived dressed in a new orange shirt, which was taken from her. It is now a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.
Special thanks also goes out to our guests Pauline Mickelson (Policy Analyst with Sioux lookout First Nation Health Authority and community member on the TBRHSC patient safety committee) who spoke about Resiliency, Nathanial Moses and Paul Francis (both from St. Joseph’s Care Group) for leading the prayer, singing and drumming and to Misko Finlayson for leading the tobacco ties portion of the ceremony.
We encourage everyone to take a few moments today to reflect on the meaning of this day and how people in our region have been, and continued to be, impacted.
Sent on behalf of Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott, President & CEO, TBRHSC and CEO, TBRHRI
September 30th, 2021 marks the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The day honours the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.
The day also recognizes, Orange Shirt Day. A day that was created in response to Phyllis Wabsted’s experience when she attended a residential school in 1973. On Phyllis’ first day of school they took Phyllis’ orange shirt and she never saw her shirt again. After Webstad first told her story, Orange Shirt Day was launched in 2013 in Williams Lake to commemorate all of the residential school survivors. Orange Shirt Day was an opportunity to discuss the effects of residential schools and their legacy. It honours the experiences of Indigenous Peoples, celebrates resilience and affirms a commitment that every child matters. We encourage all staff to participate in this event and wear orange if possible.
Our Hospital will be hosting a ceremony at the front entrance courtyard tomorrow at 11:00 am. The ceremony will feature hand drumming and share teachings on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, resiliency and tobacco ties. All attendees will have an opportunity to create a tobacco tie. All completed ties will later be taken to the sacred fire. We are encouraging all staff to participate if possible and if time permits.
Sent on behalf of Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott, President & CEO, TBRHSC and CEO, TBRHRI
It is with mixed emotions I announce that Crystal Pirie will be leaving Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) as our Senior Director, Indigenous Collaboration. Her final day will be October 1st, 2021.
Crystal has served at TBRHSC since August 27th, 2018, where she has meaningfully engaged with Indigenous partners and communities, and advised our Hospital’s Senior Leadership Council and Board of Directors on strategies to enhance Indigenous health. She focused on ensuring our Hospital’s Indigenous health priorities were authentic to the needs of the region’s Indigenous communities and collaborated internally and externally to ensure our Hospital’s policies, procedures and processes were more culturally relevant, sensitive, and holistic.
Crystal has led a number of crucial projects in her role, such as the recruitment of Indigenous Patient Navigators and Indigenous Care Coordinators, the implementation of Indigenous Self-Identification for patients and staff, and anti-Indigenous racism proposals, to name a few.
We thank Crystal for all the work she has done at TBRHSC that has led to significant improvements and outcomes for Indigenous patients and their families in our Hospital, the community, and the region.
Crystal will be moving on to a role as the Health Services Manager at Anishnawbe Mushkiki. Please join me in wishing Crystal all the best in her future endeavors.
We are currently in the process of recruitment to fill this role.
September 29th is World Heart Day. Created by the World Heart Federation, World Heart Day informs people around the globe that cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart disease and stroke, is the world’s leading cause of death claiming 18.6 million lives each year, and highlights the actions that individuals can take to prevent and control CVD. It aims to drive action to educate people that by controlling risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, at least 80% of premature deaths from heart disease and stroke could be avoided.
World Heart Day is a global campaign during which individuals, families, communities, and governments around the world participate in activities to take charge of their heart health and that of others. Through this campaign, the World Heart Federation unites people from all countries and backgrounds in the fight against the CVD burden and inspires and drives international action to encourage heart-healthy living across the world. We and our members believe in a world where heart health for everyone is a fundamental human right and a crucial element of global health justice. To learn more, visit https://world-heart-federation.org/.
Sent on behalf of Stephanie Rowan, Manager, Nutritionand Food Services
We are currently experiencing a shortage of trays within our cafeteria. If you have any trays in your staff/break rooms, please return them to our cafeteria as soon as possible. Thank you for your cooperation.
