April 17, 2024

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It's Spirit Week!

These are our real superheroes working the front lines to ensure the residents are safe, secure, comfortable and nourished each and every day — all the while maintaining and preserving the residents’ dignity and individuality. Great job and well done to the team at Lac du Bonnet Personal Care Home.

Staff at Lac du Bonnet Personal Care Home from left: nurse Allison Maki; support services Dawn Maguire; health-care aides Janet McCalder and Sarah Motyer; support services Theresa Andrelunas; health-care aide Jesse Gould; maintenance staff Gord Haldorson; kneeling are support services Cameron Lyon; support services Maria Veroneau; and accounting clerk Judy Natrasany. Missing is Debra Bilawka from the recreation department since she’s taking the picture.

Health care superheroes got into the spirit at Kin Place Personal Care Home. Thank you to regional recreation manager Lori Martin for this submission.

Shared Health wants to recognize and celebrate you and your team with a week of Spring Spirit, April 15-19. Click here to discover the daily themes, download virtual backgrounds and more.

Please email your Spirit Week photos to ierhawave@ierha.ca.

Check out these photos from Superhero Day and Beach Day at facilities across the region.

Lead cook Nadine Thorvardson was ready to hit the beach Monday at Goodwin Lodge in Teulon. Thank you to recreation coordinator Crystal Bergeron for this submission.

The crew at Kin Place Personal Care Home in Oakbank sure brightened up the day wearing their beach attire for Spirit Week! Thank you to regional recreation manager Lori Martin for this submission.

“Beachin' it" at Lac du Bonnet Personal Care Home. From left: health-care aide Jeri Moran, support services Bev Demyd, health-care aides Brenda Lussier and Tracy Dupont and support services Odette Guimond. Thank you to recreation coordinator Debra Bilawka for this submission.

Successful internships in Ashern

From left: Ward clerk Cibil, nurse Kaylee Smith, former manager Sarvesh Mohan, internship student Bridgette Ferland, nurse Jayme Franco, internship student Jordan Rae and agency nurse Dawn.

High school student Bridgette Ferland recently completed an IERHA internship experience at Lakeshore General Hospital in Ashern, where she had the chance to job shadow health-care professionals.

“While I was job shadowing at Ashern hospital, I felt very welcomed — such a great team to work with. I also learned various skills over the last two months and met so many great people,” said Bridgette, who would like to become a licensed practical nurse.

“I got to move throughout different areas of the hospital and learn so much about the health-care system. I really enjoyed my experience at Ashern hospital.”

Lori Buors, Indigenous human resources officer, said the internship program contributes to IERHA’s recruitment initiatives.

“I would like to thank the staff and managers who give these students this great opportunity,” Lori said.

“The program would not be a success without your help.”

Occupational therapist Katelyn Jonsson-Lang with student Danika Brooks

High school student Danika Brooks also successfully completed an IERHA internship experience at Lakeshore General Hospital in Ashern — and the experience even helped her discover a career path.

“I’m thankful to be able to have had the opportunity to shadow the rehab team, as well as the nursing staff, to see what their work day is like at Lakeshore General Hospital,” Danika said. “I initially went into this experience thinking I would enroll in nursing, but having this chance while in Grade 12 has helped me see that occupational therapy is more suited for me.”

Occupational therapist Katelyn Jonsson-Lang also expressed enthusiasm about the experience.

"This was the first time I have had a student, and Danika was a model student,” Katelyn said.

"She was very eager to learn and naturally gravitated towards the scope of occupational therapy." Read the full story.

Career fair draws interest in Ashern

Staff pictured: Rachel Vander Veen (left) and Leana Smith from home care; Lynn Novak from support services; and and Rebecca Desjarlais from Ashern acute care. Steve Klassen is seated beside Rebecca but obscured in the photo.

Last week, IERHA staff attended a career fair at Ashern Hall that saw about 70 people attend. Schools and community members from Ashern and Pinaymootang First Nation participated. Our thanks to Fieldstone Ventures for hosting us!

Thanks to Lori Buors for this submission.

Budget-friendly recipe of the month:

What do to with canned tomatoes

Canned tomatoes are an excellent base to a number of different dishes making them a very versatile, convenient pantry staple They can be used in chili, soups, pasta sauce, casseroles, shakshuka and much more.

Click here to check out tasty recipes for shakshuka Middle Eastern egg dish, tomato bean soup with cheddar and tomato pasta casserole.

Thank you to dietetic intern Hailey Schurko and registered dietitian Kristen Ticknor for sharing this great info, which was originally published in IERHA's Community Wellness e-news. Photo credit: Squirrel_photos, Pixabay

To receive this free monthly e-newsletter, email wellness@ierha.ca and type “Subscribe” in the subject line or click here to fill out an online form.

Scheduling update

If you are not receiving text messages through EZ Text, please try the following:

Send UNSTOP or START to 18333881646.

If this does not work, please feel free to call Scheduling at 1-888-785-7823.

Thank you to Kim Einarson, HR Supervisor-Scheduling, for this submission.

Interlake Eastern Health Foundation supports St. John’s Ambulance Dog Therapy at SRHC

Kaitlynn and Reggie

Crystal and Tala

In January 2023, St. John’s Ambulance Dog Therapy Program received a visit request for a palliative patient on the medicine unit at Selkirk Regional Health Centre. In consultation with the staff team at the hospital, St. John’s Ambulance Dog Therapy Program arranged therapy team visits every day to fulfill the patient’s wish and ensure as many visits as possible.

Since then, SRHC has two therapy dog teams that visit SRHC regularly. Kaitlynn and Reggie visit Friday afternoons and Crystal and Tala visit Monday evenings.

Interlake Eastern Health Foundation is working with donors to support program costs to ensure that patients, visitors and staff continue to benefit from the smiles and the comfort that come with the visits – they are priceless.

Hats off to health-care staff

The following letter to the editor ran in the April 11 edition of the Stonewall Teulon Tribune. The letter writer expressed her gratitude to health-care workers who made a difference in her life.

Regional wound care program

Prevalence and Incidence Report

The Prevalence and Incidence Study Report for 2023 that looks at pressure injuries across acute care and long-term care sites in the region has been sent to leadership staff and will be available shortly on the Wound Care page on StaffNet under Prevalence and Incidence Resources here.

The skin integrity and wound care coordinator, Stephanie, will be visiting sites over the coming months to share results and education around pressure injury prevention. Stay tuned!

It's National Medical Laboratory Week!

During National Medical Laboratory Week, which runs from April 14 to 20, we want to acknowledge the critical work of laboratory professionals working in the health system across the province.

In sprit of the National Medical Laboratory Week, point-of-care testing specialist Brian Webber created a display in Beausejour Health Centre of some vintage laboratory equipment that was removed from service and gathering dust in his office for several years now.

"This display provides a glimpse into the past and how far medial laboratory sciences has progressed in recent years," Brian said.

"The display cabinets have sat empty for the past 23 years. This will hopefully provide something of interest for patients and staff alike to view and appreciate."

Thank you to Brian Webber for this submission.

Celebrate National Volunteer Week!

Gerry Gienke has been volunteering with bingo at Kin Place personal care home in the region for 13 years.

It's National Volunteer Week from April 14 to 20!

This is the week we thank our valuable volunteers for giving their time to helping people in our region!

The theme for volunteer appreciation is “Be in the moment, because every moment counts.”

“This theme captures the notion that life is made up of moments and the ones we spend helping others are some of the most meaningful and rewarding,” says Marion Ellis, Interlake-Eastern RHA CEO.

“Volunteers are an important part of the region’s work every day of the year. Thank you.”

We have lots of volunteer opportunities available here.

Is your profession or department celebrating an upcoming recognition day? We'd love to share in the excitement! Please send us a brief write-up (250 words maximum) plus a few staff photos for consideration for possible publication in the Wave. Send submissions to ierhawave@ierha.ca.

Provincial government news

Manitoba government plans to hire 100 new doctors this year

The Manitoba government is investing $309.5 million toward staff recruitment, retention and training including increasing funding for physician recruitment and medical residency spots by 38 per cent. The government’s new Health Care Retention and Recruitment Office will play a strong role in ensuring doctors stay in the province, the premier noted.

Manitoba's 2024 Budget includes plans to rebuild health care

Budget 2024 makes record investments in health care, with a plan to hire 100 doctors, 210 nurses, 90 paramedics and 600 health-care aides over the next year, and makes investments to retain and train even more. It adds hospital and ICU beds and opens new minor injury and illness clinics and primary care clinics so more Manitobans can see a doctor when they need one.

Plastic health cards coming to Manitoba

The Manitoba government is actively working to develop and launch a new, modernized card, including plastic and digital options, to replace the existing paper health card. The province expects to be able to deliver on these by next year, noted the premier. The work will be part of a broader investment to move the health-care system away from paper and fax machines and towards electronic patient records.

Click here to read a memo about a revised policy for ability management.

Employee Assistance Program: Emotional Intelligence-Nurturing Workplace Success

Date: April 24, 1 to 4 p.m.

This workshop is designed for professionals who are committed to enhancing their emotional intelligence for personal growth and professional advancement.

Rural Health Ethics: Taking a Different Perspective

Date: May 1, noon to 1 p.m.

Speaker: Christy Simpson is an associate professor in the Department of Bioethics at Dalhousie University and an adjunct professor in the Australian Centre for Health Law Research at Queensland University of Technology, Australia.

Tune in virtually via Zoom. (Please note: The registration information has been updated from last week's Wave, in case anyone had trouble signing up.)

Indigenous cultural awareness sessions

This one-day workshop introduces basic knowledge of world views, spiritual and cultural values of Indigenous peoples.

Seats are available for May 28 and June 4 sessions in Selkirk.

There are also seats still available on June 17 in Ashern.

Deadline extended for Spirit of Caring course

Get in the spirit of caring through a training session focused on spiritual health.

A free 10-week Spirit of Caring course is running at Stonewall Hospital every Friday from April 26 to June 28 from 12:30 to 3 p.m. Spots are still available, and the registration deadline has been extended to April 24.

Through this course, participants will learn about spiritual care in health care. Other topics include death and dying, communication, spiritual development and spiritual diversity. The course will also touch on understanding suffering and compassion, as well as self-care, prayer, mediation, rituals, trauma and crisis.

“Illnesses and loss are those crisis points where our way of life and seeing things can be profoundly shaken and tested,” said Ferdinand Funk, spiritual health services co-ordinator for Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority.

“It is during these moments that we ask questions about meaning, purpose, suffering, forgiveness, hope, resilience, connection with the people we love and the sacred. The Spirit of Caring course is designed to train spiritual health volunteers to journey with and support people during these crisis points.”

For more information, contact Ferdinand Funk at ffunk@ierha.ca or 204-461-3414. Click here to learn more or register for free.

IERHA has partnered with TELUS.

Click here to check out the latest offers for April.

IERHA has partnered with Rainbow Stage.

Click here to learn about this summer's shows. And click here to learn how to access your discount.

Practical phrases for Health Care en français

The following phrases were taken from the “LexiGo Santé” booklet.

To receive a free copy of this pocket-sized French|English booklet, email frenchlanguage@ierha.ca with your name and worksite address.

Earth Day

April 22 is Earth Day,

What are you doing to celebrate our Earth and promote sustainability?

Check out The Climate Atlas of Canada, which combines climate science, mapping and storytelling together with Indigenous knowledge and community-based research and video to inspire awareness and action.

We're looking for your story ideas!

Send your submission of 250 words or less to ierhawave@ierha.ca by Friday and we'll work to get your story into the next issue.

We're taking a break from publishing editions in weeks following statutory holidays.

There will be no issue of the Wednesday Wave published on May 22.