Royal Review June 15, 2017

TEAM RVH supports annual Rotary Fun Run Vitalsigns 2017

TEAM RVH Rocks! Appreciation Days June 20—22

A Year in Review Annual Highlights

Vitalsigns, RVH’s annual report to the region, will be distributed through Metroland Media on June 22 to 65,000 households in the region. An electronic version will also be available on both our in-tranet and website. The magazine features many of the exciting events that have taken place here over the past year. We hope you take the time to read and share it with friends and family.

EVENTS

June 20 June 21 June 22

Kick-off celebration:

Noon - Auditorium

Board of Directors’ Awards of Excellence:

Noon - Auditorium

Meal for evening staff:

7 - 9 p.m. - Auditorium

Education Trust Fund Tea Celebration:

9:30 a.m. - Auditorium

Team RVH Lunch:

Back of Main Lobby 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Service Award Celebra-tion:

2 p.m. - Auditorium

RVH’s 120th Birthday Celebration:

11 a.m. - 2 p.m. - Au-ditorium

Dinner for night staff:

11 p.m. - 12 a.m. - Auditorium

From June 20 - 22, we’re celebrating YOU– our staff, physicians and volunteers - during TEAM RVH Rocks Appreciation Days. Every year, we take a few days out of our busy work week to celebrate and recognize the commitment and hard work staff, volun-teers and physicians put forward every day at RVH. And this year is no different. Please join us for the kick-off celebration on Tuesday, June 20 at noon in the Auditori-um, followed by the Board of Directors’

Awards of Excellence ceremony. This year, RVH is also celebrating its 120th birthday. We hope you’ll join us for the cele-bration, complete with fun activities, perform-ers, vintage games, and of course, birthday cake! By now you should have received your food voucher for a free meal from your manager. Be sure to bring that voucher and join us at for a delicious lunch or dinner on us! Please see below for further details.

Once again TEAM RVH showed their spirit at the annual Barrie Rotary Fun Run. With a team of runners and walkers 160-strong, it was hard to miss the orange Hearts & Minds t-shirts of TEAM RVH along the Barrie waterfront. This is an important event for the Rotary Club of Bar-rie, which is a loyal supporter of RVH. Thank you to all that came out to support this year’s run. A special congratulations to Leslie McArthur from the Pharmacy who placed third in the women’s 5 km race.

A Year in Review 2016-2017, RVH’s annual highlights docu-ment, showcases the many ac-complishments of TEAM RVH in the past year. Some of this year’s highlights include:

Funding and approval to pro-

ceed with two new regional programs—advanced cardiac care and child and youth men-tal health

Opening a Pediatric Cardiolo-

gy Clinic

A new in-hospital Dialysis pro-

gram

Achieving our seventh consec-

utive balanced budget A Year in Review will be availa-ble June 27.

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RVH Royal Review June 15, 2017

As safety is our promise at RVH eight additional Code White/ Emergency duress buttons have been strategically installed throughout all of the parking lots, bringing the total number to 20. There are red ‘emergency’ decals placed above the duress buttons for easy identification. Please take the time to familiar-ize yourself with the locations when entering/exiting the parking lots. When pressed, the Code White/ Emergency duress but-tons will trigger an alarm in Locating. A Code White will be called for Security to respond and take control of the situa-tion. In addition, the duress buttons will provide an audible sounding siren, with a blue strobe light, to alert others in the area of an emergency situation.

Foundation News

ICU waiting & quiet room refurb Emergency buttons in parking lots

The ICU team recently gath-ered for a cele-bration with Janice Skot to open the newly refurbished waiting and quiet rooms. The rooms were trans-formed from their former, drab, dull and dark spots into warm and soothing spaces where family members can get some much-needed relaxation time but still be near to their loved one in ICU. The changes were initiated through a patient rounding session Janice had with a family member. Brian Jeffs, who is married to Chief Transformation Officer Valerie Smith, spent a great deal of time in the unit while their son Chris was receiving care. Brian had nothing but praise for the care, but remarked to Janice how uninviting and unappealing the waiting and quiet rooms were. He told a compelling story of how opposite the look and feel of those rooms was to the level of care and compassion they experienced, and the im-portance of having an inviting, cozy and calming space to re-treat to during those difficult days and nights. In a clear demonstration of the importance of putting patients and fami-lies at the centre of everything we do, refurbishment was quickly underway and the results were applauded by all.

National Training Rinks (NTR) celebrated 20 years in Barrie by giving $20,000 to RVH for Child and Youth Mental Health Services as part of the Hearts & Minds campaign. Photo (from left): Wes and Darlene Jar-vis, NTR; Colleen and Mike Gartner, NTR; Eric Dean, CEO of the RVH Foundation; Nancy and Dave McCullough, NTR (Dave is also the Chair of the Hearts & Minds campaign).

RVH’s Biggest Loser named

The 2017 Biggest Loser Challenge has wrapped up for anoth-er year! Congratulations to Mike Yrcha, Patrick Harkins, Julie Wilson, Wendy LaFontaine and Jonathan Wiersma for com-pleting the challenge and for raising more than $1,000 to sup-port RVH’s Hearts & Minds campaign along the way. RVH’s former Chief Analytics Officer Jonathan Wiersma was named the challenge winner, losing a total of 41 pounds. Planning is already underway to make the next challenge bigger and bet-ter, and we hope YOU will join us. Stay tuned!

Photo: Iris Laycock (centre) familiarizes Mike Yrcha (Manager Cardiac Cath Lab/Recovery and CCU) and Julie Wilson (Rotary Lodge Attendant) with some of the equipment in RVH’s Wellness Centre during this year’s Biggest Loser Chal-lenge.

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RVH Royal Review June 15, 2017

Many patients in our region who have to travel for medical appointments are asking for eVisit, which enables them to be seen by specialists through secure video conferencing from their local Hospital or Family Health Team office. RVH’s cancer program is one of the province’s leading examples of how eVisit can be used effectively with oncology patients. “Connecting with our patients for their pre-chemotherapy appointments and follow up via eVisit is an essential component of our cancer strategy to bring care closer to home,” says Sharon Hendry, Manager, Cancer Treatment Clinics. “Our oncologists and social workers do over four thousand eVists annually, and this greatly reduces the stress and cost of travelling for patients.” Cathy Miske, Nurse Practitioner, and Sharon Howard, Nurse Clinician with RVH’s Heart Function Clinic also use eVisit to en-sure patients living in other communities have equal access to the heart function team. This is a relatively new OTN clinic, and both Cathy and Sharon see the possibilities for growing it to offer eVisit for all of their long-distance patients. “It is one of our strategies to reduce the travel burden for patients residing in other communities in the LHIN who require spe-cialized heart failure services,” says Miske. Dr. Kim McKenzie is one local Geriatrician who understands that people living in Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities in our region can greatly benefit from eVisit appointments. He holds a weekly OTN clinic where he sees patients from the com-fort of their LTC homes with the help of the Nurse Practi-tioner Long Term Care Outreach Team (NLOT). Mary Ellen Miller, an RVH NLOT, shares a story of a patient in a local LTC home who was able to have a number of appointments with Dr. McKenzie without leaving her home. Her daughter who lives over four hours away was also able to attend the appointments with her mom by going to her local hospital to utilize their OTN system. “This situation really demonstrates to me the reach and benefits of using OTN,” adds Miller. For more information about telemedicine options at RVH, please contact the telemedicine team at OTN@rvh.on.ca, or at ext. 42611 or 66109.

Telemedicine at RVH - Part 2: eVisit - New technology enabling patient-centred care Submitted by Karen Styles, Telemedicine Coordinator

Dr. Kim McKenzie and Mary Ellen Miller, NP, connect to Woods Park to see a LTC patient using OTN.

RVH honours student volunteers Accreditation Committee introduction Submitted by Vicci Stevenson, Accreditation Coordinator

RVH held its first Celebration of Student Excel-lence, honouring nine student volunteers with Out-standing Service Awards. Three young people also received the new MY CARE Student Award of Ex-cellence. The front row (pictured above) were recipients of the 2017 Outstanding Service Awards and also of the MY CARE Award of Excellence (from left) - Kristen Walker, Mikaela Vieira and Dryden Chadwick. The back row won Outstanding Service Awards (from left) - Ashley Franks, Leslie Haddock, Rafael Avezbadalov, Eric McMullen, Amanda Sarris and Chantelle Wiseman. At any given time, RVH has 50 to 60 students on its volunteer roster. In addition, RVH offers 35 to 40 co-operative education placements each year. To nominate an exceptional RVH student volunteer or co-op student, please call ext. 42420.

The Accreditation Team Leaders Committee held their kick-off meeting May 30. The committee membership consists of leads from various areas across the organization - inpa-tient units, outpatient areas, all major programs (cardiac and renal, mental health, medicine, surgery, cancer, critical care, infection prevention and control), imaging, pharmacy, lab, interprofessional practice, security, oc-cupational health and safety, administration, volunteer resources and sup-port services - whom will actively participate in Accreditation planning and activities. The committee membership also includes three Patient Family Advisors whom will represent the voice of RVH’s patients and families while they work with us on Accreditation initiatives.

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RVH Royal Review June 15, 2017

Medicine program leadership changes Dana Naylor has taken over as Interim Vice President Patient Programs for a period of ap-proximately eight weeks while Treva McCumber is on a brief leave. To support this transition, Tracey Fletcher has

filled the Operations Director position for Medicine. To fill Tracey’s absence on the Respiratory Inpatient unit, Resource Nurse Dawn Mattinson is serving as Manager for the same period of time. Meredith Whitehead has assumed the Chief Nursing Execu-tive (CNE) component of Treva’s portfolio. These changes took effect May 1, 2017.

Surgery program leadership changes Vicki Webb - Interim Manager Operating Room, MDRD & Surgical Bookings

Vicki has 33 years of nursing experience and began her career at the old RVH in the ICU. After working in private practice clinics she returned to hospital nursing ten years ago. Vicki has worked in the OR at RVH for the past eight years. Vicki has most recently been the OR Resource Nurse for the past three years.

Tammy Kiedyk – Interim Manager Pre & Post Anaesthesia and Acute Care Team

Tammy has 25 years of nursing experience. Tammy be-gan her career working at the University of Texas Medical Branch for four years on a Medical/Surgical Unit as a Team Leader. Tammy has worked within the surgery pro-gram at RVH for the past 18 years.

Mandy Scott – Interim Manager Surgery 3 & SSDU

Mandy started her career at RVH in 2004 as an RPN with-in the surgical program during which time she continued her education. She began a career as an RN on Surgery 3 and SSDU in 2012. Mandy has been a Resource Nurse on Surgery 3/SSDU since 2015.

Karen Winter is continuing to provide leadership to the Birthing Unit, Obstetrics, and Endoscopy units, while Kimberley Sweeney is continuing to provide leadership to the NICU and Paediatrics units.

Retirements Don Leigh of Imaging Services retired on June 9, after more than 26 years of service to RVH. Don first began his ca-reer here before moving to Toronto Gen-eral Hospital and Saudi Arabia to work. In 1989, Don returned permanently to RVH to help start up the CT program here. Don is frequently recognized by his patients and co-workers for his ex-pertise, patient-centred approach, and sense of hu-mour. Please join us in wishing Don health and happi-ness in his retire-ment.

Paul Crooks is retiring from Patient Food Services June 16 after more than 36 years of service to RVH. In his time here, Paul worked exclusively as a Storeperson, managing our food and supplies inventory. He has also played a vital role in the seamless execu-tion, set up and delivery of countless catered events and special functions. Paul looks forward to keeping busy around the homestead, travelling, and spend-ing more time with friends and fami-ly. Please join us in wishing Paul happiness and good health in his retirement.

Gina D’Antonio is joining TEAM RVH as Coordinator, Peo-ple Experience, effective June 12, 2017. Gina has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a specialization in organizational behav-iour and is currently working towards her CHRP designation. Gina also has hu-man resources experience focusing on employee recognition and engagement and was the receipient of the iLEAD Business Experience Certificate at Nip-issing University.

Kay Morrison is retiring after two tours of service at RVH (1970-1998 and 2007-2017). Kay, an RN, most recently has worked as the Regional Education Coordinator for the Central East Stroke Network. Kay has also worked as a nurse in Emerg and ICU, as a Nursing Director overseeing many areas of the hospital and in the community with CCAC. In her retirement, Kay looks forward to travelling with trips planned to the Grand Canyon, Alaska and Greece. She also plans to complete her PhD in Education, con-tinuing her passion for lifelong learning.

Dr. Giulio Didiodato is RVH’s new Chief Research Scientist. Dr. Didiodato has been an ICU physi-cian at RVH since 2005 with a focus in infectious disease. In the past 12 years he has held numerous administrative and leadership roles. Dr. DiDiodato will continue as both an ICU physician and the Medical Lead for the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program, however, with a reduced commitment. Throughout his clinical career, Dr. DiDiodato has always sought opportunities to promote his professional growth both as a physician and a researcher. In addition to his many years of clinical education, he also hold a Masters in Public Health and is currently completing his PhD in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University.