GBGH puts safety first as team receives their annual flu shots
Photo: Matthew Lawson (centre), president and CEO of Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) received his flu shot along with many of his colleagues this week. Receiving a flu vaccination is especially important this year as the hospital wants to avoid parallel surges in COVID and influenza patients this fall and winter.
October 24, 2022 – Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) launched its annual influenza immunization campaign this week in the hospital’s efforts to ensure patient, visitor and team safety during the upcoming flu season. During the campaign staff, professional staff (physicians, midwives, dentists) and volunteers are encouraged to receive their flu shot at the hospital to protect patients, themselves, their loved ones and their colleagues.
“With this upcoming flu season anticipated to be more serious than the past two years, it’s as important as ever for people to receive their flu shot,” says Angie Saini, vice president, Clinical Services and chief nursing executive. “Unfortunately we are already seeing flu cases presenting to the Emergency department in addition to an increase in COVID positive patients. The combination of these two illnesses could have a crippling effect on hospitals’ ability to effectively manage patient flow. Receiving a flu shot is critically important as we all help to reduce the burden on the healthcare system from the pandemic and flu season.”
GBGH makes influenza vaccination a top priority every year based on two main considerations – ensuring its team of staff, professional staff and volunteers don’t pass along influenza to patients, as well as ensuring its team is healthy to provide care to patients when they need the hospital.
To make receiving the flu vaccine as convenient as possible, GBGH’s Occupational Health & Safety department is visiting all GBGH department over the coming weeks and also running additional clinics to ensure as many of its team members as possible receive a flu shot.
In keeping with encouraging flu immunization, GBGH also stresses the importance of keeping up with COVID vaccination to reduce serious illness which could result in hospitalization. The bivalent booster vaccine is now available to Ontarians 12 years of age and older if they have completed their previous two COVID-19 vaccines.
As part of the hospital’s ongoing COVID precautions, all patients and visitors are still screened upon entering the building for symptoms of COVID, which can be similar to influenza. All patients and visitors are asked to wear a hospital-provided mask and practice hand hygiene when entering GBGH at the main or Emergency department entrances.
Contact:
Jennifer Moore
Director of Communications & Stakeholder Relations, GBGH
705-526-1300 ext 5177