Tiny Ties disbands, giving remaining funds to GBGH

Past directors from Tiny’s Residents Working Together (TRWT) recently visited Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) to make a donation of approximately $4,200. TWRT published the Tiny Ties newspaper based on financial support from advertisers and dedicated members. In 2010, the last Tiny Ties paper was published due to lack of volunteers. With the remaining funds, TRWT directors made the decision the money would best serve the residents of Tiny and the community if given to GBGH. TRWT is proud to make this donation on behalf of its loyal supporters.

Back row – Sheree Noon, vice president, Clinical Services, GBGH; Roger Goddard, GBGH Foundation Board of Directors; Stewart Boecker, vice president, Corporate Services and CFO; George Lawrence, past director, TRWT; Jane Millar, vice chair, GBGH Board of Directors and past editor, Tiny Ties; Bob Miskimins, past director, TRWT; and Dawn Major, senior director, Organizational Performance.

Front row – Cathy Travers, GBGH Foundation Board of Directors; Gail Hunt, president and CEO, GBGH; Carol Donaldson, past director, TRWT; Carey Moran, past chair, GBGH Foundation Board of Directors; and Marilyn Campbell Davis, executive director, GBGH Foundation.

Absent – TRWT past directors Peter Sickinger, Mary Campbell, Dorie Holmes and Katy McKanday.

Increasing Access to Mental Health Care in North Simcoe

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care – Province investing in two facilities to better integrate care

NEWS

October 6, 2017

Ontario is improving and integrating acute mental health care services for people in the North Simcoe area, which will provide greater access to high-quality treatment and support closer to home.

Ann Hoggarth, MPP for Barrie, was at Georgian Bay General Hospital’s Midland site on behalf of Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, to announce Ontario’s investment in Georgian Bay General Hospital and Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care.

The new 16,600 square-foot wing at the existing Georgian Bay General Hospital in Midland will provide acute inpatient care to accommodate mental health patients in need of emergency hospital services.

The construction of the new Waypoint facility will co-locate community mental health programs with their outpatient acute mental health care, which provides services like community-based assessment, treatment and support for adults with serious mental illness. It will also provide employment and education supports, recreation therapy, housing, social and community-integration services under one roof.

These two facilities will work together to serve patients requiring immediate treatment for sudden onset mental illness, as well as those who need longer-term treatment, to provide better integrated care. To help improve services in the region, the province is investing in new infrastructure projects at these locations.

Ontario is increasing access to care, reducing wait times and improving the patient experience through its Patients First Action Plan for Health Care and OHIP+: Children and Youth Pharmacare – protecting health care today and into the future.

QUOTES

“Investing in mental health care in North Simcoe will give people access to high-quality mental health treatment and support, close to home. These two important investments will provide integrated mental health care for the community, and is yet another step towards transforming mental health and addictions treatment across Ontario.”
— Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care

“Improving access to mental health care is crucial to ensuring that Ontarians are able to live healthy and fulfilling lives. I am thrilled that this grant will help to deliver these necessary services in Simcoe County.”
— Ann Hoggarth, MPP, Barrie

“Georgian Bay General Hospital has received great support from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in the planning process for an inpatient mental health unit. We see an increasing demand for mental health services at GBGH each year. By providing 20 additional mental health beds, less patients will have to travel outside their community for care.”
— Gail Hunt, President and CEO, Georgian Bay General Hospital

“While Waypoint will be sad to see the program move after providing these services for many decades, this is good news for our residents as they will be treated in a community hospital with an emergency department for their short-term illness just as they would for other acute illnesses or health crisis. We are pleased to partner with GBGH’s future inpatient mental health program through our outpatient services that will be relocated to the new Waypoint/CHIGAMIK Community Health Hub. On behalf of CHIGAMIK Community Health Centre and Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care I extend our thanks to the Ministry for also moving the health hub forward.”
— Carol Lambie, President and CEO, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care

“These investments in mental health and community health care will contribute to building more person-centred and accessible care to the residents of this region. This project aligns closely with the health care priorities of the North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network.”
— Jill Tettmann, CEO, North Simcoe Muskoka LHIN

QUICK FACTS

• Approximately 30 per cent of people in Ontario will experience mental illness and/or substance abuse at some point in their lifetime.
• The Georgian Bay General Hospital infrastructure project includes the construction of a 16,600 square-foot wing linked to the existing building on the Midland site, along with the transfer of 20 acute mental health beds from the Waypoint location.
• The Waypoint project includes making about 15,000 square feet suitable for use at a new site in Midland.
• Ontario recently announced a $140 million investment in mental health support over three years to help thousands more people across the province get the care they need. This investment is in addition to the $3.7 billion Ontario invested in mental health services in 2015-16.

LEARN MORE

• Patients First: Action Plan for Health Care
• Open Minds, Healthy Minds: Ontario’s comprehensive mental health and addiction strategy
• Find help for people experiencing problems with alcohol, drugs, mental health or gambling

For public inquiries call ServiceOntario, INFOline at 1-866-532-3161 (Toll-free in Ontario only)
Colin Campbell, Legislative Assistant
Office of Ann Hoggarth, MPP Barrie
ccampbell@liberal.ola.org
416-938-7406
ontario.ca/health-news
Disponible en français

GBGH Celebrates Franco-Ontarian Day

Members of the Georgian Bay General Hospital family donned their green September 25 to celebrate Franco-Ontarian Day.

The hospital raised a new flag to recognize and celebrate the contributions of the francophone community to the development of Ontario’s culture, history, society, economy and political structure. It also served as a great opportunity to celebrate GBGHs recent certification for partial French language designation which was officially received July 1, 2017.

GBGH Welcomes Two New Key Members To Its Leadership Team

We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Stewart Boecker as GBGH’s new Vice President Corporate Services & CFO, effective September 18th, 2017.

Stewart brings over twenty years of progressive financial and operational healthcare leadership experience, with the past thirteen years at a senior management level.

He brings a breadth of knowledge of the healthcare system resulting from the experiences he has gained working within numerous health care facilities including; The University Health Network, The Hospital for Sick Children, Lakeridge Health Corporation, Grand River Hospital and the Runnymede Hospital as well as the experience he has gained as a member on various Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Local Health Integration Network committees and the Cancer Care Ontario integration initiative teams.

Stewart possesses a CPA designation with a Masters’ Degree in Health Administration.

We are also pleased to announce the appointment of our new GBGH Communications Officer, Jennifer Moore, effective October 2, 2017.

Jennifer brings more than 15 years of communications experience to this position. Having spent the past eight years with Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH), Jennifer has extensive experience in planning and implementing complex strategic communications initiatives in a hospital setting. Her areas of expertise include writing, media relations, crisis communications, engagement, project management and event planning.

Prior to RVH, Jennifer was a public relations consultant in Toronto with clients in the pharmaceutical, non-profit, retail and food services industries, as well as the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

Jennifer has a B.A. (Honours) in Political Science from The University of Western Ontario and a post-graduate certificate in Public Relations from Humber College.

Georgian Bay General Hospital welcomes its new CEO

Gail Hunt’s first day on the job as the hospital’s new CEO was September 11 and she is looking forward to all that role will entail.

“GBGH presents a new challenge in my career with a larger community and larger hospital. Now that my children have all gone off to their post-secondary educations, I was looking for a new challenge in a larger community, yet one that would still have small community appeal,” she said. “GBGH has all that to offer, many new opportunities and projects on the go, and a beautiful central location.”

Gail spent the last 15 years as CEO at Chapleau Health Services, noting while that organization and GBGH contain a number of similarities in demographics the fluctuating and larger population present a new challenge for her.
She is looking forward to life both inside and outside of the office.

“Although I love living in a small town, Chapleau is an extremely isolated community, therefore I am very excited about all the amenities and activities that Midland and the surrounding areas have to offer in comparison,” she said. “For my career, I look forward to the new challenges and opportunities that GBGH is currently facing.”

She is also impressed with how invested the community is in the hospital.

“It is obvious in the number of volunteers, donations and participation in fundraising activities for GBGH. Not all hospitals are lucky enough to have community members so committed to their success.”
Gail doesn’t plan on wasting any time, and is looking forward to getting to know the organization and the staff that make it run.

“I am sure that the recent transitions in senior leadership have been very difficult for staff. It always takes a certain amount of time for staff to adapt to and become comfortable with new leaders, therefore I want to get to know the staff and hear their opinions and ideas,” she said. “There are already so many terrific projects that are underway or identified at GBGH, now stability and support from leadership will allow us to move forward on these projects.”

Georgian Bay General Hospital has officially been granted partial French Language designation

NEWS RELEASE – July 7, 2017 –  After years of hard work, Georgian Bay General Hospital has officially been granted partial French Language designation under the French Language Services Act (FLSA).

The designation applies to the ambulatory care program and the finance, human resources and telecommunications services carried out on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

“This designation is the result of a lot of hard work on behalf of our staff to ensure that we here at Georgian Bay General Hospital are able to provide the best care possible to all of our patients – which means being able to do so in both English and French,” said Interim President & CEO Paul Davies.

“I am ecstatic with the news”, added Board Chair Rick Philbin, who himself is Francophone. “It demonstrates our commitment to the French Language Services Act and to serving the population of the area in both official languages of Canada.”

As an agency designated under the FLSA GBGH is required to continue to provide services to the public in French in accordance with the provisions of the FLSA and work towards maintaining French-language services capacity.

“I recognize that this is the result of many years of effort with various partners working towards this common goal,” stated John Maury, Manager, French Language Services Office Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. “Thank you for your continued commitment to proactively offer quality French-language services to Francophones in Ontario and for meeting their unique cultural and language needs.”

Contact :
Nikki Cole
Georgian Bay General Hospital
Communications Officer
ColeN@gbgh.on.ca

The 2-1-1 Common Point Project at GBGH

Visitors to the Georgian Bay General Hospital website now have one-stop access to mental health information and referral services.

The Common Point project is to help members of the public who land on our site to link to a web directory which provides information on all addiction and mental health services in the NSM LHIN or to call 211 for help to navigate the system.

For more information on The Common Point project, please visit: https://mentalhealthandaddictions.cioc.ca/

GBGH Telemedicine Program will be expanded to Monday to Friday 8am – 4pm

Services that can be accessed thru OTN Consult specialties include:

Cardiology, Dermatology, Diagnostic Radiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Family Medicine, Gastroenterology, General Surgery, Geriatric Medicine, Gynecologic Oncology, Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine, Hematology, Nephrology, Neurology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopedic Surgery, Other: GP specializing in Pain Management, Other: Geriatric Psychiatry, Other: Refugee Care,Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Neurology, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Plastic Surgery, Psychiatry, Respirology, Rheumatology, Thoracic Surgery, Urology

About Your Telemedicine Visit

A telemedicine appointment is just like a regular appointment, only the specialist you will be seeing and speaking with is on a monitor. Free to residents of Ontario, OTN connects you with the right health care professional, in the right place, at the right time. The healthcare professional with you may assist with the examination, using tele-diagnostic equipment like a stethoscope, otoscope or patient examination camera. The specialist on the monitor can hear heart and breath sounds and look into your ear, nose and throat as if she were sitting in the same room.

Why should you talk to your doctor about OTN?

• to access a specialist from anywhere in Ontario in a timely manner.
• to receive care closer to your home.
• to reduce travel to appointments, saving time and money.

To learn more about GBGH OTN Services, visit https://gbgh.on.ca/programs-and-services/otn-ontario-telemedicine-network or

Contact:
Judy Sauve
Telemedicine Clinical Coordinator
Ontario Telehealth Network
705 526-1300 ext. 5479
SauveJ@gbgh.on.ca

Motherisk Commission Information Now Available Online

The Ontario government established the Motherisk Commission to review individual child protection cases and provide support for people who were affected by flawed hair testing done by the Motherisk Drug Testing Laboratory at the Hospital for Sick Children. The independent review found that the hair strand drug and alcohol testing done by the laboratory was inadequate and unreliable for legal purposes.

The Commission is currently undertaking comprehensive outreach to organizations across the province, including hospitals. It is very important that the Commission get in touch with as many people as possible who may have been affected so that it can offer legal referral and counselling.

This information is time sensitive. The Commission is required to deliver its report at the end of 2017 and will be closing down shortly after. For those who seek counselling during the period of the operation of the Commission, counselling will continue for another year.

For more information, please contact Motherisk Commission at 1-844-303-5476 or visit www.motheriskcommission.ca.

GBGH First Baby of 2017

A Victoria Harbour family has been celebrating the new year in the best way possible – with the addition of a new little boy.
Just after 2 a.m. on January 4, Kristie Goldsmith, 33 and Jeff Dumont, 33, welcomed Cole Jeffrey John Dumont to the world – making him the first baby born at Georgian Bay General Hospital in 2017.

Weighing in at 8 pounds and two ounces, and measuring 21 inches long, Cole was just over a week late, noted mom, so she was quite surprised to when hospital staff – including on duty Labour and Delivery nurses Kim Eichenblat and Jessica Williams – informed her that they had the unique distinction of having the “New Year’s Baby”.

Kristie arrived at Georgian Bay General Hospital shortly after midnight, and the delivery went quickly and smoothly, she said, with Cole arriving at 2:03 a.m.

“I wanted to deliver in Midland. Dr. Helt is our family doctor and he delivered the baby as well,” she said. “The nurses were great and really helpful. I had a good experience there last time so I had no reason not to go back. Everyone is really nice and friendly and they really took care of me and Cole. I am very glad it it’s still open and that I had the chance to go there.” This is mom’s second child, and dad’s third, and both are adjusting extremely well to their new sibling.

“They’re very helpful and they love him – it’s been really good,” she said, adding life with a newborn has been going as smoothly as can be expected – although it will take some time to adjust to the middle of the night feeds again. “He’s doing really well. He sleeps well and eats well (and) he’s very content. He fits well in to our family, which has been nice since we’re already so busy with two other kids. (He) will be our last baby so we’re taking advantage of cuddling him and loving him as much as possible.”