For over 25 years, Excellence Canada has been supporting Canada’s workplaces build healthier culture, and we continue to expand the Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month program. This year’s theme is all about taking a personalized approach to wellness to ultimately create a healthy lifestyle that feels authentic, and exciting.
By putting personal choice front and centre, we’re helping individuals and organizations own their wellness journeys. This year you’ll find enhanced support for managers and organizations in addition to great participant resources you’re accustomed to.
Staff throughout our Hospital wore orange shirts today as a display of remembrance, respect, and commitment to Reconciliation.
Orange Shirt Day honours Indian Residential School Survivors, the children who never made it home, and recognizes the ongoing impacts of the Residential School system on Indigenous Peoples, families, and communities.
As health care providers and staff, our participation is especially meaningful. The legacy of Residential Schools continues to affect Indigenous Peoples’ experiences with health care. Creating culturally safe health care environments begins with understanding this history and recognizing the responsibility we all share in building relationships based on respect, dignity, and trust.
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.
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) is observing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by releasing its third annual report detailing the Hospital’s ongoing responses to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action.
“We are pleased to share this year’s report, which demonstrates our ongoing commitment to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. This year, our focus is on increasing Indigenous representation and supporting Indigenous health professionals at every stage of their careers,” said Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott, President and Chief Executive Officer of TBRHSC and Chief Executive Officer of Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute. “As part of this work, we are ensuring all staff receive cultural safety training so that every patient, family, and team member feels respected, valued, and supported. Our progress is grounded in strong partnerships, accountability, and the invaluable guidance of Indigenous voices. While there is still work to be done, I look forward to bringing continued updates on this important work.”
This year’s report highlights TBRHSC’s focus on Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action #23, which calls for increased recruitment and retention of Indigenous professionals in health care and cultural safety training for all health care professionals.
“Call to Action #23 is about more than workforce numbers. It challenges us to imagine the health care system we want to build. It means asking who is represented, whose voices are valued, and ensuring Indigenous staff have opportunities for meaningful, lasting careers at our Hospital,” said Dr. Miranda Lesperance, Vice President, Indigenous Collaboration, Equity and Inclusion at TBRHSC. “Our goal is a culture where every staff member is prepared to provide Indigenous patients and families with care that is safe, respectful, and free from racism or discrimination.”
To honour National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, TBRHSC’s Miskwaa Biidaaban department (Indigenous Collaboration) organized a series of events throughout September. These initiatives included an opportunity for staff to hear the firsthand experiences of Indian Residential School Survivor, Elder Peter Sackaney. Hearing directly from a St. Anne’s Residential School Survivor provided a rare and valuable opportunity to listen, learn and engage. To mark the launch of the report and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, staff were encouraged to wear orange shirts to honour Survivors and remember those who never made it home.
“Advancing Reconciliation at our Hospital means fostering inclusion, equity, and compassion in all that we do”, said Christine Bates, TBRHSC Board Chair. “We know Indigenous Peoples can face unique barriers accessing health care and we are committed to removing these obstacles and supporting cultural safety. Our latest report highlights the progress we’ve made and our ongoing dedication to this important work.”
I bring you this month’s Blog on a significant day, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. For our Hospital it is more than just a moment or day to reflect. It represents as a reminder of our work to date and the work to come on providing culturally safe, respectful care for Indigenous patients and families across Northwestern Ontario. This year our annual Truth and Reconciliation report is focused on Call to Action #23 a call for increasing the number of Indigenous professionals working in health care and ensuring cultural competency training for all health professionals. It is a strong account of the work done here over the past year and signifies our commitment. I invite you to read the report and reflect on what it asks of us as individuals and as an organization serving communities across this region.
As most of you know, capacity and flow pressures were significant through the month. Many of you felt that in the Emergency Department, on inpatient units, across our diagnostic departments, and across every area affected by downstream pressures. We thought we were ahead of the curve as July and August showed substantial improvements with our metrics on time to inpatient bed and physician initial assessment. This great progress is not lost, and the team-driven work will guide our planning as we approach our upcoming respiratory and influenza season. Please know that the earlier gains were real and recognized.
The Transitional Care Unit will close on October 22 and transition to long-term care under the leadership of St. Joseph’s Care Group. Occupancy at the unit is currently below 50 per cent and we expect the closure to proceed on schedule. I have been clear about my concerns regarding the impact of this change on capacity and patient flow across our region. Our discussions with Ontario Health remain active and we are working together to identify supports that will help maintain patient flow. I will continue to keep you informed as we progress with this transition.
On September 28th, Special Constables have been added within the Emergency Department to support the safety and well-being of staff, patients and caregivers. Through partnership with Thunder Bay Police Services, this pilot project will complement our existing work on preventing workplace violence and enhancing the safety and well-being of the environment for all.
The Meditech Expanse Fair was held on September 25 and I was pleased to see so many staff and professional staff attending to check out the new look and functions of the new system. I witnessed many “aha” moments as participants explored the new system and the elements of how the flow of information will support their work for improved patient care. It is exciting yet difficult, as any change of this scale is. If you were able to attend, I hope the fair provided you a positive first look at what is coming.
Strategic Plan engagement continues, with opportunities for both staff and members of our community to share their perspectives. Here at the Hospital, you can still have your say by scanning one of the QR codes posted throughout the building to complete the survey, or by stopping by our onsite booth. Members of the public can also share their feedback through our online survey. The questions remain the same: What should we keep doing? What should we start doing? And what should we stop doing? There is still time to share your perspective and help shape our next Strategic Plan.
I encourage you to take part in the many activities happening over the next month within our Hospital, Research Institute and the healthcare community as a whole. Together, we are all making a difference on the care provided in our community. Thank you for taking the time to read this Blog and staying informed about some of the key activities that matter.
I welcome any feedback about this blog or any other topics you would like to discuss. You can reach me at rhonda.ellacott@tbh.net. I appreciate hearing from you
The iCare Impact Awards program is open to all employees, professional staff, Patient Family Advisors, and volunteers of Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute. It provides a forum for peer-to-peer recognition of positive impacts on our patients and their families.
Sodexo will be serving beef stew with a side of cheese or plain bannock, starting today at 11:00 a.m. Please note, stew will be served while supplies last.
Today, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) celebrated the vibrant Francophone culture in Northwestern Ontario by raising the Franco Ontarian flag. Representatives from Ontario Health North West, Association des francophones du Nord-Ouest de l’Ontario (AFNOO), the Réseau du mieux-être francophone du Nord de l’Ontario (Réseau), Francophone Affairs at NOSM U, and the French Language Health Services Planning Centre attended the flag raising. Members of L’Accueil francophone de Thunder Bay were also present to provide information about their services for patients.
TBRHSC recognizes the importance of providing culturally safe care. Our Hospital is dedicated to meeting the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of all patients, including the diverse Francophone population.
TBRHSC is committed to ensuring that it respects and responds to Francophone cultural preferences, needs, and values, along with those of all the other diverse populations it serves.
Aujourd’hui, le Centre régional des sciences de la santé de Thunder Bay (CRSSTB) a célébré la culture francophone rayonnante du Nord-Ouest de l’Ontario en hissant le drapeau franco-ontarien. Des représentants de Santé Ontario Nord-Ouest, de l’Association des francophones du Nord-Ouest de l’Ontario, du Réseau du mieux-être francophone du Nord de l’Ontario, du Bureau des affaires francophones (BAF) de l’Université de l’EMNO (U EMNO) et du Centre de planification des services de santé en français ont assisté à cette cérémonie. Des membres de L’Accueil francophone de Thunder Bay étaient également présents pour fournir des renseignements sur leurs services offerts aux patients.
Le CRSSTB reconnaît l’importance de fournir des soins adaptés à la culture. Il ne ménage aucun effort pour répondre aux besoins d’ordre social, culturel et linguistique de tous les patients, y compris ceux de la population francophone diverse.
Le CRSSTB s’engage à reconnaître et à respecter les préférences, les valeurs et les besoins culturels de la population francophone, ainsi que ceux de toutes les autres populations diverses qu’il sert.
(Back Row L to R: Leona Kakepetum – Director Indigenous Collaboration, Equity and Inclusion (ICEI), Tsilavo Ralandison – Francophone Affairs at NOSM University, Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott – President and CEO, TBRHSC, and CEO, Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute, Jennifer Wintermans – Vice President, Clinical Services, Quality and Corporate Affairs, Chantal Chartrand – French Language Health Services Planning Centre, Solange Côté – L’Accueil francophone , Marlee Pradal Executive Assistant People & Culture, ICEI) (Front Row L to R: Sarah Lynne Myllyaho – Nursing Practice Leader, Laïla Faivre – Réseau du mieux-être francophone du Nord de l’Ontario, Élodie Grunerud – Association des francophones du Nord-Ouest de l’Ontari, Rae-Anne Robinson – Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Lead, Chantal Doucet – L’Accueil francophone de Thunder Bay)
Join Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre’s Renal Department at the 2026 Kidney Walk at Boulevard Lake on October 3, 2026.
In support of the Kidney Foundation of Canada, funds raised will further programs, services, research opportunities and awareness campaigns that have a positive impact on the millions of Canadians living with, or at risk of developing kidney disease.
The French Language Training Reimbursement Program is funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and coordinated by L’Accueil francophone de Thunder Bay. The program is available to health care professionals in Ontario who:
Want to improve their French language skills;
Are proficient in French at a level above beginner; and
Have direct contact with patients, clients, families or the public in a health care environment.
Eligible employees may receive a reimbursement of their tuition fees, up to a maximum of $300.00.
For more information regarding eligibility and requirements for reimbursement, please refer to the below documents which can be accessed via the Human Resources iNtranet page under Employee Resources:
French Language Training Program Information – provides basic information about the program and the approved providers;
Fact Sheet – provides information about eligibility and requirements for reimbursement;
Conditional Eligibility Form – must be completed and submitted by interested employees prior to registering for classes.
Any questions concerning the above can be addressed to Chantal Després, Resource Person for the French Language Training Program: Telephone: 1-807-697-0881 / 1-888-382-6452 e-mail: cdespres@accueilfrancophone.com.
After an incredible 40 years of dedicated service, we are pleased to announce the retirement of Jeff Glavish from the Housekeeping Department!
Jeff began his career in 1986 at Port Arthur General Hospital, working in the kitchen. In 1991, he transferred to Housekeeping, where he continued his career until his retirement in October 2026.
Throughout his many years with our department, Jeff spent most of his career managing the waste room. His expertise, knowledge, and dedication helped keep the waste stream flowing effortlessly. Jeff’s commitment and years of experience have been greatly valued, and he will certainly be missed.
Please join us in celebrating Jeff and wishing him all the best as he begins his new chapter on Monday, October 5 at 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm in 2178 ICP Main.
