The Ontario Association of Medical Radiation Sciences celebrated the best in the profession at their awards gala, held at the University Club in Toronto on June 21st. It was a red carpet event, hosted by Noor Ra’fat, a news reporter and weather anchor for Global News Toronto. Many awards were handed out, but we would like to highlight two awards given to staff from Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC).
Monica Young, an MRT at TBRHSC, is this year’s Recent Graduate Award winner. Known for her contribution as a peer tutor to her fellow students, Monica excelled academically at Confederation College with a First Class Standing. In 2023, Monica had the highest mark on the national certification exam out of more than 500 students. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Student Union of Confederation College Award and the CAMRT Award of Excellence.
The Angiography MRT team at TBRHSC is the recipient of the 2024 OAMRS Team Award. The Angiography MRT team works in the only angiography suite in Northwestern Ontario. As a result, the team is versed in a large variety of procedures – many of them that were originally performed by physicians. Led by Christy Laatu MRT(R), the Angiography MRT team operates under enormous pressure and stress, yet their ability to co-ordinate and support one another is what makes this team outstanding. In fact, the team is responsible for developing TBRHSC’s aneurysm rupture pathway. No small feat, the procedure is the result of a multidisciplinary planning simulation involving 100 hospital professionals. Thanks to this team, patients who present from anywhere in Northwestern Ontario with a ruptured aneurysm can now be offered an endovascular repair for rupture, with the associated potential for increased survival over an open surgical repair. All of the MRTs have also been trained on TBRHSC’s new operating room C-arm – and the newest team member recently handled a middle of the night emergency using the C-arm and resulting in an excellent outcome for the patient. The team’s nomination comes with a recommendation from two vascular surgeons, and a charge nurse who describe how the work and cohesiveness of this team has played a significant role in helping the hospital to expand its cardiovascular services and cardiac surgery to a community where there can be innumerable geographic and organizational barriers to patient care.
For all award winners, and photos of the event please follow the OAMRS Facebook page or visit the website: www.oamrs.org
