As Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) advances toward the launch of cardiac surgery in 2028, building a highly specialized cardiovascular workforce is a critical priority.  This work is being advanced in partnership with the University Health Network’s Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC), supporting a coordinated, “one program, two sites” model of care.

As cardiac surgery is not yet available in Thunder Bay, a proactive “grow-your-own” approach has been implemented in partnership with the PMCC. Through this model, team members complete their specialized education and transition into clinical practice at PMCC, where they gain hands-on clinical experience at PMCC, a high-volume cardiac centre, before returning home to support the program’s launch.

Cardiovascular perfusionists are highly specialized professionals and essential members of the interprofessional operating room team. Working in close collaboration with cardiac surgeons and anesthesiologists, they operate advanced life-support technologies, including the heart-lung machine, which temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs during surgery. Their expertise is critical to ensuring patient safety and optimal outcomes in complex procedures.

In recognition of National Perfusion Week (May 3–9), we are proud to celebrate the expertise, dedication, and critical contributions of cardiovascular perfusionists. This year, we are especially pleased to highlight four exceptional individuals who are preparing to join the team at TBRHSC. These professionals will play an integral role in the anticipated launch of our Cardiovascular Surgery Program in spring 2028.

With no perfusion training program currently based in Thunder Bay, each of these individuals has made the significant commitment to relocate to Toronto to complete specialized education at the Michener Institute of Education at UHN, while gaining valuable clinical experience at PMCC. This investment supports individuals with strong ties to Northwestern Ontario in developing advanced expertise and returning to serve their communities.

As we approach the 2028 launch, these future team members will bring the knowledge, skill, and experience needed to deliver high-quality, patient-centred cardiac surgical care, closer to home.

Meet the Team

Scott completed the Cardiovascular Perfusion Program at the Michener Institute of Education at UHN in 2018. With longstanding ties to TBRHSC, he now practices at the PMCC, where he continues to advance his expertise in a collaborative, patient-centered environment focused on innovation and excellence in cardiac care.

Amanda began her studies in cardiovascular perfusion at the Michener Institute of Education at UHN in September 2023 and completed the program in 2025. She has since joined the team at the PMCC, where she is further developing her clinical skills while contributing to high-quality patient care in a leading cardiac centre.

Grace began her training in 2024 and has demonstrated exceptional dedication and resilience throughout her studies, recently completing her Master of Science in Cardiovascular Perfusion. During her training, she has gained valuable hands-on clinical experience in cardiac surgery, strengthening her technical skills and clinical judgment. She will graduate this June and begin her career at PMCC, where she will support patients undergoing life-saving cardiac procedures. Congratulations, Grace, on this important milestone.

Eve is the final team member participating in the “grow-your-own” initiative supporting the launch of cardiovascular surgical services. She began her studies at the Michener Institute of Education at UHN in 2025 and is currently completing her first year of the Master of Science in Cardiovascular Perfusion program. Upon her expected graduation in 2027, she will help strengthen local capacity and support patients requiring cardiovascular surgery closer to home.

The dedication and commitment demonstrated by these individuals will be invaluable to TBRHSC and the patients we serve. We look forward to welcoming them as key contributors to our future cardiovascular program.

During National Perfusion Week, we invite our community to recognize the vital role perfusionists play in the operating room. Their skill, precision, and vigilance make a meaningful difference in patient care every day.

To learn more about cardiovascular perfusion, please visit these online resources:

• The Canadian Society of Clinical Perfusion
• Ontario Society of Clinical Perfusion
• The American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion
• The American Academy of Cardiovascular Perfusion

National Health and Safety Week is an annual opportunity to highlight the importance of creating and maintaining safe, healthy workplaces.

It serves as a reminder that safety is a shared responsibility—one that requires awareness, communication, and continuous improvement from everyone in an organization.This year’s focus on the Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) emphasizes the vital role it plays in promoting workplace well-being. The JHSC brings together worker and employer representatives to identify hazards, recommend solutions, and ensure that safety standards are upheld. By fostering collaboration and open dialogue, the committee helps build a culture where concerns can be raised and addressed proactively.

To make this week both engaging and informative, employees are encouraged to participate in daily safety trivia for a chance to win one of two gift cards (prize 1: $150 Fresh Air, prize 2: $50 Tims Whole Health). There will also be a team scavenger hunt designed to promote collaboration and safety awareness, with the winning department earning a pizza party.

Recognizing Health and Safety Week is not just about compliance, it’s about reinforcing a commitment to protecting people every day.

Mental Health Awareness Week is happening May 4-8. Check out the poster below for details of the events taking place at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre throughout the week.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS WEEK – May 3 to 9, 2026

Prepared Together

This week is Emergency Preparedness Week and Ontario’s theme is “Prepared Together”. Being prepared isn’t just about having the right supplies. It’s about working together – individuals, organizations, and governments – so we can all respond and recover better.

Emergency Preparedness at TBRHSC

Here at TBRHSC we follow the Ontario Hospital Association’s standardized Emergency Colour Code system. Each colour code, as well as Alert 99/Alert 99 Trauma and Lockdown, has an Executive Sponsor and working group assigned to maintain the associated policy, review key incidents, and identify training and exercise opportunities. Each policy is updated on a 3-year cycle.

When was the last time your area’s emergency code binder was updated?

Are you missing any policies or sub-plans? Are all your policies current? Review the recommended emergency code binder table of contents (below) to help ensure your team is working off the most up-to-date response information.

Reminder: policies are located the iNtranet under Corporate Info > Emergency Codes or at the bottom of the Main Page where there’s a “quick link” to Emergency Codes.

Did you know that at TBRHSC, Emergency Preparedness has its own dedicated iNtranet page? It’s true! Be #PreparedTogether by reviewing our safety huddles, posters, and training videos. Check it out on the iNtranet under Departments > Emergency Preparedness and Security > Emergency Preparedness or via this link, and follow along as we gradually build up this resource with new material.

Our emergency colour codes and alerts aren’t meant to be a secret. Want to share with patients and visitors? No problem! Turn to page 26 of the Patient Care Resource booklet or direct them to https://tbrhsc.net/home/information-services/emergency-codes/

If you have questions, please reach out to your manager or Mēsha Richard, Lead, Emergency Preparedness (ext. 6552 or mesha.richard@tbh.net).

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.

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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.

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.

Shared on behalf of Lakehead University

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Ultra‑Sensitive Organ‑Targeted Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Technology: Transforming the Way Breast Cancer Is Detected in Women at High Risk of Developing the Disease

Date: Monday, April 27, 2026
Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Location: Livestream. To register, click HERE.

In this lecture, Dr. Reznik will explore how advances in ultra‑sensitive, organ‑targeted Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging are transforming the way breast cancer is detected in women at high risk of developing the disease. It will trace the development of a breast‑dedicated PET imaging technology, from fundamental solid‑state physics and detector design in the laboratory to patient‑centred clinical translation, culminating in an FDA‑ and Health Canada–approved, commercially available PET scanner now used in cancer care. Innovation in detector and system design, imaging electronics, image reconstruction hardware and software, and clinical validation is driven by trainees at multiple levels -undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and research assistants, working closely with clinical and industry partners. The talk will highlight how this collaborative, trainee‑powered research enterprise is enabling more precise, lower‑dose, and more accessible breast imaging to improve early cancer detection and support more personalized treatment decisions.

Dr. Alla Reznik is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Physics of Radiation Medical Imaging and a Professor in the Department of Physics at Lakehead University. She also serves as a Senior Scientist at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute (TBRHRI). She specializes in photoconductive materials and technologies for radiation medical imaging, with a focus on organ‑targeted Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and low‑dose x‑ray imaging detectors. She is dedicated to advancing radiation medical imaging technologies to achieve higher diagnostic accuracy while making them more affordable for healthcare systems and more accessible for patients, thereby improving patient outcomes. Her work bridges the gap between fundamental physics research and practical healthcare solutions by promoting knowledge transfer and collaboration among academia, industry, and healthcare institutions. Dr. Reznik’s program of research on organ‑targeted PET has led to the establishment of Radialis Inc., a Lakehead/TBRHRI spin‑off company that produces a commercial breast‑dedicated PET system based on the technology developed by her research group for breast cancer detection.

Every April 22, partners of all backgrounds come together to advance sustainability and climate action in commemoration of Earth Day.

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre’s Green Team is proud to be involved in the waste and energy reduction initiatives onsite which help reduce our Hospital’s environmental impact and carbon footprint. Our extensive recycling programs, in addition to our partnership with MEMO (Medical Equipment Modernization Opportunities) allow us to divert over 25% of our waste volumes from landfill and support developing nations in need of used medical equipment. Our Green Team also endorses other initiatives including introduction of paper straws; reduction in Styrofoam and single-use plastics; and other initiatives such as:

• Donations: Sent 75 decommissioned (end of service life) beds to MEMO, 4 to Confederation College, and 4 to Lakehead University
• Biodegradable gloves:  TBRHSC disposes over 11million nitrile gloves per year. Our original nitrile gloves take well over a century to degrade. Our biodegradable gloves achieve 90% degradation in 490 days.
• Reusable Sharps Containers:  TBRHSC moved to reusable sharps containers from the old disposable containers. The use of reusable containers prevents approximately 56,000 to 60,000 pounds of waste going to local landfill.
• ORCA:  Waste food digestion system. This system diverts over 100 pounds of food waste per day from landfill.
• LEAN PATH:  Auditing Program in Nutrition & Food Services to monitor food waste helping to design menus geared to patient preference. 
• Moving to Ozone Laundry, TBRHSC has capital budget approval to purchase new laundry equipment using Ozone generators which allow us to use cold water resulting in large cost and environmental savings of over $100K/year.
• MDRD Renovation: once complete in 2028, MDRD will move to rigid containers from our disposable sterile wraps. Each year we spend over $400K on disposable sterile wraps. Moving to reusable rigid containers, we will save over $400K and prevent over 90K disposable wraps going into the landfill.

TBRHSC’s new Waste Management Contract has resulted in several steps to improve our source-separated waste recycling program and meet the requirements outlined in section 2(1) (d) of Regulation 103/94.  Those efforts include:

• Enhancement of our current comprehensive recycling program: We are introducing a more structured approach to recycling across our organization, focusing on key waste streams such as cardboard, plastic and mixed recyclables.
• Live-load bailing for cardboard and plastic: These materials are now  baled on-site and live-loaded for delivery to the Waste Management Transfer Site and then direct shipment to recycling facilities (MRF in Winnipeg), reducing contamination and ensuring cleaner, more marketable recyclables.
• Dedicated collection for comingled recyclables: We’ve arranged for a recycle bin exclusively for comingled recyclable materials, which are picked up separately to avoid cross-contamination and enhance diversion rates.
• Ongoing education: We will outreach specific departments to improve participation and compliance with recycling protocols.  This includes updated signage and clear guidelines to support source separation.

TBRHSC reaffirms its commitment to environmental sustainability through targeted energy conservation and demand management initiatives that reduce our Hospital’s environmental footprint. 

Recent projects include:

• Roof Replacement: a multi-year, multi-phased roof replacement that nearly doubles the building’s thermal resistance (R-value), significantly improving insulation and reducing heating and cooling demands.

• BAS and VFD Upgrades: advanced our building automation systems (BAS) to optimize real-time energy use, alongside upgrades to variable frequency drives (VFD) that enhance the efficiency of mechanical equipment by matching output to actual demand.

Together, these efforts form a broader strategy, with additional projects in development to further modernize infrastructure and operations. Through these measures, the hospital is working toward an ambitious goal of reducing overall energy consumption by 6% by 2035.

Some ways you can participate in Earth Day:

• Walk/Bike/Car pool/ Public transit to work
• Use reusable vs disposable when possible
• Plant trees, pollinator and vegetable gardens
• Participate in composting
• Set up a rain barrel or rain garden