Award for ongoing support of Organ and Tissue donation

Today representatives from the Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN) were in North Bay to present the North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC) with an award for the Health Centre’s ongoing support of organ and tissue donation.

Donor recipient, and NBRHC employee, Carl Svensson says the donor heart he received almost 18 years ago gave him a second chance at life. “I am thankful every day for the gift of life from a kind stranger who believed in organ donation,” Svensson said. “This gift gave me the ability to see my daughters grow up and to celebrate my upcoming 32^nd wedding anniversary.” He says he is living proof that transplants work and aims to promote the benefits of organ donation.

NBRHC was selected to receive the Hospital Achievement Award- Provincial Conversion Rate. This award is given to hospitals that met or exceeded the target of a 67% Conversion Rate in 2014/15.  Conversion Rate is the percentage of actual organs donors from the total number of potentially eligible organ donors identified upon deceased health record review.  Key factors that influence Conversion Rate are the notification of potential organ donors and working with TGLN to promote optimal approach planning.

“We are proud to acknowledge the important contributions of our hospital partners. The success of organ and tissue donation in Ontario relies on their hard work and dedication,” said Ronnie Gavsie, President and CEO at Trillium Gift of Life Network. “Together, we work to make sure families are given the opportunity to honour their loved ones wishes and save lives through organ and tissue donation.”

For many years the Health Centre has participated in organ donations, but the partnership with Trillium officially began in March 2014.  “The response from our health care team has been incredible during the process of becoming a designated facility,’ says Tiz Silveri, Vice President Clinical and Chief Nursing Executive. “As an organization we are very proud of our staff for taking the time to make the call to Trillium. These calls help facilitate the large number of organ and tissue donations we have seen over the last 18 months,” Silveri continued.

Between April and September of 2015, staff at NBRHC assisted to facilitate a better quality of life for 54 people with the gift of sight. Dr. Michael Leckie has been instrumental in this process at the hospital. “The satisfaction in knowing that our work is directly making a difference in the life of so many people young and old is a huge motivator for all of us involved with Trillium here at NBRHC,” Dr. Leckie says.

In 2015, one organ donor gave four organs to four recipients waiting to have their lives changed. Also, four multi-tissue donors transformed countless number of lives through their gift.  Dr. Donald Fung, Chief of Staff, says the process of organ donation can often be a difficult journey for both families and staff. “The knowledge that something so good can come out of a terrible and often tragic event can be a comfort and provide a lasting memory for the families,” Dr. Fung says.
For more information on the gift of organ and tissue donation, please visit beadonor.ca

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Photo caption: Pictured (l-r): Dr. Donald Fung, Chief of Staff; Tiz Silveri, Vice President Clinical and Chief Nursing Executive; Pam Durocher, Clincial nurse educator ER; Paul Heinrich, President & CEO; Carl Svensson,  donor recipient, and NBRHC employee; Janice Beitel, Director, Hospital Programs, Education and Professional Practice TGLN; Leslie Bethune, Manager Critical Care Unit & Cardio Respiratory; Ann Loyst, Director, Medicine; Dr. Michael Leckie; Candice Cowell, RN.
Missing from photo: Janis Herzog, Clinical Support Lead for the TGLN and Clinical Nurse Educator, CCU

Contact:
Lindsay Smylie Smith
Communications Specialist, NBRHC
lindsay.smyliesmith@nbrhc.onca
705.495-7592

Received a decision of ‘Accredited with Commendation’

The North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC) is proud to announce that it has achieved ‘Accreditation with Commendation’ from Accreditation Canada. Accredited with Commendation is “for organizations that go beyond the requirements of Accreditation Canada and are commended for their commitment to quality improvement.” To receive this score, NBRHC had to exceed a score of 95% on thousands of standards observed by the accreditors during the on-site survey completed in November 2015.

Health care accreditation is used to evaluate a health care organization against national standards of excellence. “We are very proud of all our staff, physicians and volunteers at NBRHC,” says Paul Heinrich, President and CEO. “They work incredibly hard to provide our community with health care services that are safe, effective, and of the highest quality. Receiving such a high score by an unbiased national standards body is a validation of the high level of quality at our organization.”

Sue Lebeau, Director Quality & Clinical Support, says one of the elements praised by the accreditors was the risk reporting system where staff and patient safety concerns are reported, monitored, analyzed and resolved. Lebeau says these accreditation results are a direct result of the rigorous standard work created as part of our quality improvement processes. “Our hard work and team approach to continuous quality improvement has enabled us to get such great results. The whole organization is involved in accreditation, from front-line staff and volunteers to board members, patients, and families. ”

The NBRHC’s volunteer Board of Directors met all the governance criteria evaluated and were praised for their engagement, knowledge, accountability and the adoption of an ethics framework to guide their difficult decisions.

Michael Lowe, Chair, NBRHC Board of Directors says the Board is proud of the hospital’s accreditation decision. Lowe says receiving this level of accreditation during a time of significant organizational change is a true reflection of the staff’s dedication to providing the highest quality of care to our patients and the community. “On behalf of the Board, we want to thank staff for all of their hard work not only during the accreditation process, but every day,” Lowe said.

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Lindsay Smylie Smith
Communications Specialist
North Bay Regional Health Centre
p: 705.495.7592
c: 705.492.1235