Shared on behalf of Infection Prevention and Control

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A respiratory outbreak has been declared at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre Transitional Care Unit – Cedar Unit, 300 North Lillie Street North as of Monday December 30, 2025. All restrictions are in place. Please share this information with the appropriate staff. 

As always, our number one priority is the safety of patients and their families, staff and visitors. All patients identified as having an exposure to this outbreak will require isolation with appropriate additional precautions. 

The department of Infection Prevention and Control encourages everyone to keep applying the routine practices of hand hygiene, proper use of PPE, equipment cleaning, and the appropriate admission screening of all patients.

Please set an example for staff and students and assist us by maintaining compliance and due diligence. 

For more information, contact: Infection Prevention and Control at extension 6094.

Shared on behalf of Adam Vinet, Vice President, Patient Experience, Chief Nursing Executive & RVP, Regional Cancer Care

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Due to current surveillance data demonstrating increasing activity of respiratory infections, including influenza and other respiratory viruses on our Inpatient Clinical Units and Emergency Department, masking requirements will increase to Mandatory Masking – Stage 3, effective December 29, 2025 at 12:00 p.m.

Please note that as of December 29, 2025, all Staff Professional Staff, Learners, Volunteers and Essential Care Partners (ECPs)/Care Partners (CPs) must wear a Level 3 procedure mask at all times when entering all Inpatient Clinical Units and when in the Emergency Department.

Please see the following details on masking requirements:

1A Inpatient Units

• All Staff, Professional Staff, Learners, Volunteers and ECPs/CPs must wear a minimum Level 3 procedure mask at all times while on units 1A Medicine, and 1A Acute Oncology. This includes when entering a patient room and when within the 1A clinical area.

All other Inpatient Units

• All Staff, Professional Staff, Learners, and Volunteers must wear a minimum Level 3 procedure mask at all times when entering all clinical departments.
• All ECP/CPs must wear a minimum Level 3 procedure mask at all times when entering all clinical departments.

Emergency Department

• All Staff, Professional Staff, Learners and Volunteers must wear a minimum Level 3 procedure mask at all times in the department.
• All Patients and ECPs/CPs accompanying a patient must wear a minimum Level 3 procedure mask at all times in the department.

Public communication and signage will be provided to support the above requirements. Further communication will occur on this topic as required.

If you are a staff member who has been ill, please review the Occupational Health and Safety Standard Operating Procedure (SOP-OH-34) before returning to work. This will help ensure you meet all necessary criteria for a safe and appropriate return.

Acute Respiratory Infection Self-screening Checklist:

Respiratory symptoms:

• New or worsening cough
• Sore throat
• Runny nose or congested nose
• Shortness of breath
• Fever or chills
• Fatigue/muscle aches

Other Indicators:

• Tested positive for a respiratory virus
• Close contact with a confirmed case (self-monitor and mask)

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 Infection Prevention and Control at 684-6094 for further details on best practices.

Shared on behalf of Tram Dao, Interim Director, Quality and Risk Management

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I am pleased to announce that Michelle Allain has accepted the position of Interim Manager, Quality and Risk Management, effective January 12, 2026.

Michelle brings more than thirteen years of experience as a Bioethicist at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Care Group. Throughout this time, she has supported leaders, staff and physicians in navigating complex clinical, legal and operational issues. This work has directly contributed to quality improvement, risk mitigation and patient safety initiatives aligned with the Hospital’s mission, vision and values.

Michelle’s experience involves leading and co-leading various committees, including serving as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Research Ethics Board, developing corporate ethics decision-making tools, contributing to Just Culture implementation, supporting policy development with operational and reputational risk considerations, and mentoring colleagues in academic and healthcare settings. As the organization prepares for the next Accreditation on-site survey in May 2026, Michelle’s experience supporting eight Accreditation Canada cycles will be invaluable.

Michelle’s systems-thinking approach and collaborative leadership style will continue to be a strong asset to the Quality and Risk Management portfolio. Please join me in congratulating and welcoming Michelle to her new role.

Michelle can be reached at Michelle.Allain@tbh.net or extension 6251. Michelle’s office will be located in room 3007.

Bioethicist Coverage

I am pleased to inform that Katherine Stewart will be providing Bioethicist coverage effective January 12, 2026, while Michelle is covering the Manager, Quality and Risk Management role. Katherine is not new to this role and has provided this coverage before. We are pleased she has accepted this interim position. Please also join me in congratulating and welcoming back Katherine to this role.

Katherine can be reached at Katherine.Stewart@tbh.net or through switchboard.

This year, the Adult Mental Health Unit came together to make the space feel festive and welcoming for our patients. Staff put in an incredible amount of time and care decorating the unit with many hand-made decorations, with a special focus on creating a warm, inclusive environment during the holiday season.

One particular meaningful moment came on a day when a patient was struggling. Our ward clerk noticed they were having a difficult time and, after connecting with the patient’s primary nurse, an idea was shared: would the patient like to help with some artwork for the unit? Knowing the patient had artistic skills, the team invited them to participate in painting the windows. From there, other patients were also invited to help. 

The artwork that emerged was beautiful and more, importantly, it became a source of pride and accomplishment for the patients. Moments like this remind us that healing can happen in many forms, and that creativity, compassion, and teamwork can make a lasting difference. 

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Our Hospital’s smallest patients are showing their holiday spirit! With the help of our dedicated care team, some of our smallest patients were dressed in festive holiday outfits, bringing smiles to families and staff alike. These moments are powerful reminders of resilience, love, and the strength of littlest patients and their families.

We are grateful to the parents of the newborns and staff for letting us share these wonderful photos.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) team at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre works tirelessly to ensure families are supported while separated from their babies.

A big THANK YOU to the NICU staff for taking the photos and creating this festive holiday scene.

We all play a vital role in helping to advance our strategic priorities and in achieving our vision of Exceptional care for every patient, every time. In order to increase awareness and help everyone understand how we are progressing on Strategic Plan 2026, we have developed and are distributing these quarterly strategic initiative highlights.

The full list of each “Quarterly Strategic Initiative Highlights” can be found on the intranet.

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In our high-pressure environment, clear communication and patient trust are critical to safety. To strengthen person centred communication across our organization, we are expanding on the established best practice of NOD (Name, Occupation, Do). To foster more meaningful patient staff connections, enhance trust, and promote a compassionate and empathetic care environment, PFCC proposed expanding NOD to NODDING (Name, Occupation, Do, Develop trust through Interacting, Noticing, and being Genuine).

This is a core patient safety tool. Building patient trust quickly is proven to improve patient compliance with care plans, help reduce errors and preventable readmissions. The alignment with existing practice increases the likelihood of successful implementation. It reduces resistance to change, promotes consistency, and makes it easier for staff to integrate enhanced empathetic behaviors into their routine workflows.

NODDING offers a scalable and practical tool to embed these values across the organization and elevates what is already known, fostering sustainability and long-term engagement.

What’s next: Implementation will begin with a pilot in a selected unit to evaluate feasibility, staff engagement, and impact on patient experience. Insights from the pilot will be used to guide refinements and inform broader organizational rollout.

Shared on behalf of St. Joseph’s Care Group

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The Showcase of Health Research is an annual event highlighting research, evaluation, and quality improvement initiatives that advance the health and well-being of Northwestern Ontarians. The event features podium and poster presentations, along with opportunities to network and engage with health professionals, researchers, analysts, students, and scientists from across the community and the region.

The 2026 Showcase of Health Research is free to attend, and a lunch will be provided. However, registration capacity is limited and fills every year, so we encourage early registration to secure your spot.

Registration deadline: Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Register: cahr.sjcg.net/registration
Learn more about the Showcase of Health Research: cahr.sjcg.net/about-showcase

Please share this invitation with coworkers, colleagues or others who may be interested in attending.

Want to Win a $1500 Prepaid Mastercard?

The 2026 Employee Recognition Week is approaching fast starting February 27, 2026, to March 6, 2026.

All employees are automatically entered to win the big prize, but there are more ways to get extra entries.

You can get an extra entry for the following initiatives:

1. iCare Impact Awards Nominees and Nominators
2. Long Service Recipients
3. Flu Vaccine Participants
4. Those who complete their e-learning by December 31, 2025

The winner will be announced on the Daily Informed Newsletter and the Hospital’s social media pages on Friday, March 6, 2026.

The Adult Mental Health team at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre gathered in the outpatient department for the annual Purple Giving Tree Lighting Ceremony, reaffirming their commitment to harm reduction, trauma-informed care, and anti-stigma practices.

The ceremony opened with welcoming hand drummers, followed by the lighting of the Purple Giving Tree, which symbolizes the harms and overdoses associate with substance use in our community.

Staff were invited to place pledge bulbs on the tree, reflecting personal and team commitments for the year ahead.

The event coincided with an Adult Mental Health donation campaign in support of the Regional Food Distribution Association. Staff contributed non-perishable food items, with over $1,900 raised to date.

Shared on behalf of the Help Desk

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The transition to M365 involves moving our local files to the cloud with OneDrive and SharePoint. With over 1,000,000+ files in our local storage, this transition involves a lot of file preparation work.

Learn the new system limitations to properly prepare your files:

• Special Character Restrictions: The following characters cannot be used in file or folder names: ” * : < > ? / \ | % .
• OneDrive Storage Limit: 10GB for Office Workers/2GB for Frontline Staff for personal file storage.
• File Path Limits: All file paths should be ≤256 characters and have a maximum file depth of five to seven folders.
• Office File Incompatibility: Old Office 97-2003 files and templates must be converted to newest formats.

Remember to:

• Delete old files and convert old formats.
• Rename long file names and remove special characters.
• Reduce folder depth to five to seven folders.

For more information, click here.

If you have any questions, please contact the Help Desk at Help.Desk@tbh.net.