Well Aware – Winter 2017

The North Bay Regional Health Centre is pleased to provide you with our quarterly e-newsletter update! NBRHC Well Aware is designed to keep you up to date on changes to our services, new initiatives and news that impacts our communities.

Strategic Plan

We are pleased to share the North Bay Regional Health Centre’s 2017-2019 Strategic Plan and a short video that tells you about the plan and why it is important to some of the people who helped us shape it.

Developed for our patients and with our patients, our Strategic Plan will act as a road map for the next three years–every direction, concept and objective will put the PATIENT FIRST.

We are grateful for the feedback we received from the 1550 members of our communities and through this we learned what is most important to those we serve-safety, wellness, technology, community engagement, cultural competency, access and collaboration.

These themes will help make our 2017-2019 Strategic Plan a reality by defining where we are going and how we will achieve our four strategic directions:

Access to the Right Care

Partnerships with Purpose

Our People Achieving their Best

Wise Choices

Our health care landscape is changing and this has challenged us to think innovatively about the work that we do and ensure that every decision we make continues to place our patients’ well-being above everything else.

Whether your role is at the bedside or in the boardroom, we all have a part to play in doing the right thing to ensure the delivery of equitable, ethical and high quality care that always supports our
patient-first environment.

We look forward to working with you to be the best in health care.

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NBRHC’s Cancer Clinic is Not Closing

We know there has been a lot of confusion in our community around what is happening with the satellite Cancer Clinic located at the North Bay Regional Health Centre and how it affects our current and future patients.

We want to try and help clear up any misunderstanding with with the following key facts you need to know right now.

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Robb Nash Project at NBRHC

In November patients and some staff were treated to a very special show in the auditorium at NBRHC’s 50 College Drive campus.

The auditorium was full for the 9:30 am concert by the Robb Nash Project – NBRHC was one of 9 stops for the band in our region and the first time Robb has ever played in a hospital.

The Robb Nash Project engages young people through the power of music and words, encouraging them to make positive life choices and lead lives of significance and purpose.

Following a life-threatening accident as a teenager, Robb Nash, lead singer and voice of the Robb Nash Project, experienced anger, self-doubt and depression. After working through these issues and recovering from significant physical injuries, the highly acclaimed musician found his passion: connecting to young people with rock music and meaningful lyrics.

Through personal stories, song and video, Robb sensitively deals with serious issues including drug and alcohol addiction, bullying, self-harm, depression and suicide. He inspires youth to stay hopeful, recognize their unique strengths and make positive choices.

Robb and his band tour across Canada performing more than 150 concerts each year in schools, detention centres, First Nations communities and other venues. For each of the past three years, the Robb Nash Project has presented live to over 50,000 young people. Robb also stays connected to his audience through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and his website.

Audience feedback from students and educators consistently includes stories of remarkable personal breakthrough, realization of self-worth and personal growth. The Robb Nash Project is a message of strength and hope at a time when many youth need it most.

More information about the Robb Nash Project can be found here.

You can read an article about Rob Nash in this article from the Washington Post or watch a video from Washington Post here.

A number of community partners (including NBRHC) worked together for more than a year to bring Robb and his band to the community. The major sponsors are Nipissing First Nation and Canadian Mental Health Association – Nipissing Branch, and supported by Bell Let’s Talk.

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A Look Inside the Surgical Experience for Young Patients

A new video at the Health Centre offers a look inside the surgical experience to help young patients feel more comfortable before an operation.  Join Melanie on a tour to learn more about a patient’s journey though Day Surgery.

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Effective Engagement and Partnership Drives 46% Savings and Standardization for the North Bay Regional Health Centre

Hospitals across the country are constantly under pressure to minimize costs and become more efficient, while improving patient care. A key strategy that North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC) utilizes to address these challenges is to maximize their participation in HealthPRO contracts, from Clinical and Capital Equipment to Pharmacy and Nutrition and Food services.

“By joining as many of these national contracts as possible, we benefit from high quality products from reputable suppliers at the very best price, enabling us to invest more money in bedside care” says Paul Heinrich, President and CEO, NBRHC. “In fact, the most recent clinical contracts we committed to are positioned to generate savings of up to 46 per cent for our facility.”

A cornerstone to the success of these contracts is a focused effort on engagement and collaboration with frontline users. This begins with HealthPRO’s unique prequalification process which engages registered nurses, risk managers, and subject matter experts from across the country who ensure products meet hospitals’ robust clinical requirements. Lise Morris, Inventory Buyer and Chair of the NBRHC Product Evaluation Committee, then engages her own internal stakeholders to ensure they make the best decision for their facility. “The knowledge of prequalified suppliers and contract scope prior to contract commitment ensures we can provide our clinicians with all the pertinent details to help facilitate our decision-making, while tools such as HealthPRO’s Decision Support Toolkit help us determine the best value.”

This comprehensive process ensures that NBRHC can obtain consensus on contract decisions, leading to consistency and standardization throughout the hospital’s site.

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Smilezone Transforms Patient Areas at NBRHC & One Kids Place

Patients at the North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC) and One Kids Place Children’s Treatment Centre are now benefitting from the exciting Smilezone transformations revealed at both organizations in a special unveiling held today.

Scott Bachly, Chair of the Smilezone Foundation says their organization is honoured to be a part of the NBRHC and One Kid’s Place Children’s Treatment Centre transformations. “This has been such a unique installation for us and we are overjoyed to have transformed six new Zones within the two facilities,” Bachly says.

Emma, a 16 year old patient at NBRHC’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit (CAMHU), says the unit has a much more relaxing atmosphere since the renovations by Smilezone, and appreciates the outdoor theme. “Seeing all the different paintings of the outdoor stuff—like the camping and the waterfalls—it’s kind of brought outside inside. Things like the beanbag chairs and the paintings make it feel much more comfortable, and it’s much more ‘homey’,” Emma says. She says the renovations have helped ease anxieties. “In this place you can kind of feel like you’re trapped—but I feel like this really helps. It makes you feel more comfortable.”

NBRHC’s CAMHU was a plain and simple environment. With the installation of the Smilezones, hallways are now vibrant areas, brought to life with beautiful murals depicting our unique northern scenery. The kitchen, where children spend time doing activities and learning life skills, has been converted into a lively space with a campfire mural and giant whiteboard. The TV/media room incorporates an iPad station, beautiful cabinetry with a nature movie background. Inspiring wall graphics and a tactile station revamped the yoga, Wii and activity room.

NBRHC Before

NBRHC After

“This facelift from Smilezone has transformed our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit into a bright, colourful and functional area for our youth to receive care and recover,” said Paul Heinrich, NBRHC President and CEO. “As our patients have told us, the colour and imagery is uplifting and soothing and we are grateful to the Smilezone Foundation for the improvement to our healing environment.” Heinrich says.

The two Smilezones at One Kids Place Children’s Treatment Centre are both incredible spaces to advance the treatment for kids.

With a wonderful outdoor theme, the Thomson Resource Room is vibrant and functional space for families to enjoy while waiting to see their therapist or pediatrician. Both families and therapists will enjoy the Smilezone for the combination between the exciting theme of the North Bay Battalion and the functionality of the new seating and cupboards for the Loan Equipment Program.

OKP Before

OKP After

The second Smilezone, a mountain themed therapy room, will be used for a wide range of therapy with the low
level traversing wall, the cushioned safe environment for kids working on the therapeutic swings or enjoying the soft play area while interacting and working with their therapist.  This very functional space will truly help children and youth reach their full potential.

“One Kids Place is extremely thankful to the Smilezone Foundation for their generosity to the children, youth and families we serve,” Denis Filiatrault, Executive Director of One Kids Place says.  “The two Smilezones are a true benefit to our therapists, the children, youth and families we serve and will definitely put a smile on the kids face for a long time to come.”

“We are grateful that Smilezone Foundation allowed the Battalion to be involved with the installation at One Kids Place,” said Battalion President Mike Griffin. “Over the last two seasons our players have been frequent visitors to the facility while assisting staff and our logo being permanently displayed makes our partnership even stronger.”

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The Flu & You

Flu activity is currently high in our community, and the North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC) wants to help ensure you are protected from the virus. Here are some tips to stay healthy this flu season.