By Cecilia Nasmith
Appreciation was the theme of President and Chief Executive Officer Susan Walsh's senior staff report at the April Northumberland Hills Hospital board meeting.
“Heartfelt appreciation for all our staff, volunteers, physicians for their persistence, perseverance and dedication during this intractable pandemic,” Walsh said.
“We all hoped cases would continue to decline, but public-health officials now warn it's on the rise and a sixth wave is underway.”
NHH appreciates its responsibility to its staff, patients ad community, so all enhanced prevention and control measures remain in place, including universal masking.
And, thanks to a multidisciplinary team of NHH staff, primary-care providers and Ontario Health Team – Northumberland partners, the COVID-19 Clinical Assessment Centre remains operational in the portable trailer parked outside the emergency-department entrance, open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily (except for statutory holidays). Walk-ins are accepted but, in light of the growing volume of calls and visits, phoning ahead is suggested – which you can do by calling 905-377-7783 or 1-833-678-2435,
As for its responsibility to staff, Walsh mentioned their Caring for the Carer campaign in recognition of the human-resources pressures this hospital (like so many) is feeling – a strategy to maximize the physical and emotional well-being of the staff and bring some relief.
March was Pharmacy Appreciation Month and, in the case of the NHH team, they have not only been active in the Epic implementation but are also expanding into the deliverance of anti-viral and other COVID-19 treatments.
The auxiliary comes in for appreciation as they near their 100th anniversary, by which time they will have raised $1-million toward the Epic transformation - “the largest commitment they have ever made to a single project,” Walsh noted.
And the Diagnostic Imaging team has won attention for its leadership in a green initiative – recycling iodine-based contrast media in support of a program run by GE Healthcare.
In an article profiling the NHH Diagnostic Imaging department as one of the first Canadian hospitals to do so, the company explained that iodine is a mineral extracted from soil, rock and brine to help make the contact media required for CT and X-ray imaging. It's a non-renewable resource and, according to GE, only about 18% of the current global demand is being reused.
The recycling program began in Norway and is now going in in 11 European countries.
And Walsh noted that NHH is proud to be one of 15 Canadian sites now participating.
