Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation

Every man is Prostate Man!  Donations support prostate cancer awareness campaigns in Northwestern Ontario.

For four years, Prostate Man has reminded the men of Northwestern ontario how important it is to avoid prostate cancer by living healthy lifestyles. Last year, Ron Hell, who so capably portrayed the aging superhero, hung up his cape. The search to replace him began. After careful consideration by the prostate cancer awareness campaign committee, a decision has been reached: Every man is Prostate Man!

“We received a lot of interest,” says Alison McMullen, Director of Preventive Oncology at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre’s Regional Cancer Care Northwest and member of the committee.

“We realized the important work of Prostate Man is beyond one individual’s capacity. Essentially, we’re asking all men over 50 to be advocates for prostate health,” McMullen announced. “As Prostate Man, every man not only reduces his own risk for prostate cancer by talking to his health care provider about his risk for prostate cancer and being active every day, he also encourages others to do the same.”

Mrs. Elli Lieske and Mr. Peter Hyde found a way to make a difference.

Putting stock in local healthcare

Both Peter Hyde and his wife Elli Lieske recently received care at the Health Sciences Centre – care that involved tests and routine procedures – but neither has ever spent a night in a hospital. That didn’t stop the couple from appreciating the value of our Health Sciences Centre. 

“The few times we’ve needed the care, it’s been excellent,” Elli says. “The staff is amazing.” The couple wanted to support healthcare and recently found a way to donate that fit with their own financial goals.

While employed with Safeway, Elli bought stocks in the company. When she and Peter updated their wills (which they do every four years), they discussed the stocks with their accountant. “We knew we could get by without the stocks and we wanted to support a worthwhile cause,” Peter explains. “The stocks enabled us to make the gift we wanted to make.”

Donating gifts of stock can provide considerable tax benefits as well. “People can donate publicly listed securities to the Health Sciences Foundation without incurring any capital gains tax,” says Terri Hrkac, Director of Major and Planned Giving at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation. “For people like Elli and Peter, that isn’t a motivating factor, but it is a nice benefit.”

What was important to Elli and Peter was that the money stayed local. “It feels good to know we’ve done something to help people here in our community when they need healthcare,” Elli notes.

To learn more about donating gifts of stocks, please contact Terri Hrkac at 684-7109.

Paediatric patient Kaitlyn Ellerton uses a new white board to help keep everyone as informed as possible about her care plan.

On board for patient & family centred care

A lot of different people interact with patients staying at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre: family members, physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and a long list of others. Each has important information to communicate, questions to ask or answer. With Patient & Family Centred Care in mind, the Health Sciences Centre is introducing a strategy to help keep everyone as informed as possible about a patient’s care plan. 

White boards will be placed at every inpatient bedside. The white boards feature specific spaces for the names of the people on the care team, daily care plan items (such as time of an x-ray or a visit from a dietician), instructions for healthcare providers (such as do not take blood pressure readings from the right arm) and discharge information. Colour-coded symbols indicate the patient’s discharge readiness. There is also an area where patients and family members can write down questions for the care team.

“The white boards allow healthcare professionals to respond to specific questions even when the family is not present and the patient is sleeping. The answer is simply recorded on the white board for them to read when they can,” says Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott. To maximize their effectiveness, white boards will be customized for different areas of care within the Health Sciences Centre. For example, white boards for paediatric patients include an area to list items that help comfort the child.     

Donations to the Health Sciences Foundation support patient and family centred care initiatives like this one.

Cancer survivor Frances Cheetham and her daughter Laura Gray are busy planning the 2010 Spur the Cure event.

Cancer Spurs Hope

“Two weeks after I heard my physician introduce the ‘C’ word into our conversation I was still numb,” says Frances Cheetham.  For her, cancer was completely unexpected. “No one in my family ever had cancer, so I had no point of reference to know how I should deal with it.” 

Throughout her biopsy, tests, waiting, surgery, treatments and healing, she turned to her faith in God for comfort. She also found the support she needed in her family, friends and healthcare professionals. “They were all so supportive and helpful. I don’t know how to begin to say thank you,” Cheetham says. 

But she does know how to give back.  Cheetham and her daughter, Laura Gray, are involved in Spur the Cure, an event that will raise funds for the Northern Cancer Fund of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation.  100% of the funds raised will stay in Northwestern Ontario to support world-class cancer care for patients like Cheetham.

“We want to make a difference,” says Gray, who organizes Spur the Cure. Watching her mother battle cancer motivated her to start the event.  The fear of cancer returning keeps her going. “Cancer is a battle. That’s why we are helping in the fight.”  Gray looked to her fellow horse enthusiasts and created the fundraiser. Spur the Cure will be held on August 7, 2010. 

“We all have to deal with the fear, pain, despair and heartache that cancer brings to our doors. But there is hope. We can work together to help more people survive cancer,” Gray says.

For more information about Spur the Cure, email or visit www.spurthecure.com .

RN Cathy Prystay helps place a pocket talker on patient Barb Fillmore.

Pocket Talkers Pump Up the Volume

Communication is the vital first step to providing excellent healthcare. Sometimes communication can be a barrier for patients who are hearing impaired. They may have difficulty hearing questions, and therefore may not provide the answers hospital staff need.

One recent Family CARE Grant went directly to purchasing a new “pocket talker” that helps amplify sound for the hearing impaired.

“Pocket talkers are used a lot in our building,” said Mary Jane Kurm, chair of the Accessibility Advisory Team (AAT) and Clinical Manager at the Health Sciences Centre. “A lot of our patients need hearing assistance.”

The personal amplification system, similar to cheaper models seen on TV, makes speech and sounds louder for the user.

Pocket talkers are useful for anyone with hearing impairment, including elderly patients whose hearing may decline over the years.

“Families get to see first-hand how beneficial these devices can be,” Kurm said. “They’re amazed that their parent can hear so well – they’ll often buy one for them when they get home.”

Katherine Grimard and her 12-hour old son Logan, sitting with nurse Denise Pollari outside the doors at Labour and Delivery. Katherine said that the bench also came in handy late the night before when she was in labour, allowing her to walk around outside and then sit when she needed to.

Donations Gives New Mothers a Place to Sit

Dr. Kristin Reid, a Family Physician in Thunder Bay who also does obstetrics, is always in and out of the Labour and Delivery entrance at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. She noticed a curious thing: there is no seating outside of the doors.

“I saw these pregnant ladies standing out there, waiting for their rides,” Dr. Reid said. “I thought: ‘They should have a place to sit.’

Labour and Delivery is a separate area of the Health Sciences Centre with its own doors and its own pickup and drop-off area for expectant and new mothers. It is a natural place to wait while the rest of the family brings the car around. Although it may save mother and baby a walk, it obviously would be more comfortable if they had a place to sit.

Now, thanks to Dr. Reid’s observation and a grant from the Health Sciences Foundation, they will. The bench was installed outside of Labour and Delivery in early April.

“It really is just a little thing, but hopefully it works out for everybody,” she said.

Marcia Hiiro bids farewell to the home dialysis machine she no longer needs.

Marcia Hiiro gets a new kidney, and a new life

Marcia Hiiro now has many years to watch her two grandchildren grow, and that’s something she doesn’t take for granted anymore.

In February 2006, tests revealed that Marcia had renal disease.  Life with renal disease isn’t easy. Marcia’s kidneys shut down and could no longer filter the toxins out of her blood. She was put on the kidney transplant list and went on hemodialysis three times per week, four hours per treatment. The life-saving hemodialysis machines are funded by donations.

Marcia’s story is similar to the 180 (and growing) dialysis patients who rely on the Renal Service at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre  every day.

Marcia got her happy ending last summer with a kidney transplant. She thanks the staff here for giving her a new chance at life by providing the care she needed before and after the transplant.

For dozens of dialysis patients, there are still happy endings to be written. With your donation to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation today, we’ll help more patients like Marcia get the care they need.

Pasquale Bossio (right, with his son Tony) says he feels “like a million bucks!” after receiving angioplasty at our Health Sciences Centre just this past November. Having family at his side made all the difference .

Family, donors and caregivers at the heart of cardiac care

Pasquale Bossio had been experiencing shortness of breath and tightness in his chest. An angiogram revealed a significant blockage in one of his arteries. Two days later, Pasquale had an angioplasty.

“That team is wonderful,” Pasquale praises. “They are so knowledgeable, so organized and so caring.” The team of caregivers in the cardiac catheterization lab ensured Pasquale’s family was fully involved in his care.

“We were always aware of the procedures, the results, the care,” his son Tony recalls.  “We were with him the entire time. I can’t imagine how challenging it would have been for our whole family if Dad had to be flown out of town.” 

“I felt 100% better right away,” Pasquale reports. “And I got to stay here instead of flying to another city. I’m so thankful.”

Pasquale is grateful that donations from the community made it possible to have angioplasty at  Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre .  “You really don’t know how important it is to have these services here until you have to go through it. I wish I could thank every single person who donated,” he says.

Rose Marie Daigle of Dryden (front) and Geraldine and Bob Duguay of Hearst found a bright side to cancer.

Under one roof
Love and cancer bind strangers

“It makes all the difference in the world, being here,” Rose Marie Daigle explains. She should know. Her perspective changed when she became a cancer patient. Before then, she didn’t know TBay Tel Tamarack House existed. She now wants everyone to know about it. And she wants to thank the many people who provided this gift. Donations from people across Northwestern Ontario made TBayTel Tamarack House possible. “From the bottom of our hearts, we really appreciate it,” Rose Marie says.
 
The home-away-from-home for regional cancer patients undergoing treatment at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre ’s Regional Cancer has made all the difference in the world to hundreds of patients like Bob Duguay and his wife Geraldine, or Heast. 

Because Bob is sick, he’s unable to work. Until the employment benefits paperwork is processed, there is no income. “We wouldn’t have come. There’s no money for a hotel,” she says. “Thank Heaven for this place.”

William in incubator. Now five years old, William Hutton is the happy and healthy apple of his parents’ eyes.

Newborn Baby gets Intensive Care

Yvonne Hutton gave birth to her son William at Atikokan General Hospital.  But it was a rapid birth, which can sometimes come with consequences.  “He had a very low resting heart rate and was very lethargic,” Hutton recalls.

Doctors became increasingly concerned when William’s condition didn’t improve after a few hours.  There were fears that he could have a heart condition or other conditions requiring care and equipment not available at AGH. 

Just twelve hours into his young life, William had his first plane ride. He and his mother were flown to Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Cent re. 

Baby William was whisked to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and placed in an infant warmer, or incubator. “Essentially, he had pneumonia,” explains Hutton. 
William spent the next five days in the infant warmer with IV tubes providing him antibiotics. The infant warmer that was an essential part of William’s care was purchased through donations to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation.

Thankfully, Hutton was able to stay in the Health Sciences Centre, close to her new baby, not in a hotel room far away.  Hutton stayed in the Parenting Room named in honour of the Mill Employee’s Charity Fund of Bowater Canadian Forest Products Inc., Thunder Bay Operations.  The group donated $50,000 in support of the capital campaign for the Health Sciences Centre. 

Andrea Maenpaa (left) is prepared for monitoring tests by Colleen Morrow, RN who coordinates  the cardiac outreach program at the Health Sciences Centre.

Program makes a big difference for little patients

A little-known program is making a world of difference to little patients. Eight-year-old Andrea Maenpaa is one of approximately 120 children currently receiving care through a cardiac outreach program at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre .

“I was astounded by the prevalence of cardiac anomalies in paediatric patients,” says Colleen Morrow, RN, who coordinates the program. Morrow was already an experienced paediatric nurse when she began working with the outreach program ten years ago.

The program is offered through links with Ottawa Children’s Hospital and Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Kids. Dr. Herschel Rosenberg is a paediatric cardiology specialist who visits Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre to see children birth to 18 years. In an average three-day visit, Dr. Rosenberg and his team here see 55 paediatric patients.

“Because we can provide the program here through partnerships, these young patients don’t have to travel every six months for routine assessments,” says Morrow.
"I cannot begin to express my gratitude to him and Colleen for their dedication," says Andrea's mother Tina. 

Donations to the Northern Cardiac Fund support valuable cardiac programs like this one.   

The Linda Buchan Centre for Breast Cancer Screening and Assessment

Equipment and services in the Maternal Child Unit

TBayTel Tamarack House

Medical equipment and technology in all areas of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre , including Renal Care , Neurosurgery and Trauma