NEWS in General – April 13
.
.
GGH News
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion – Meet your new committee
Special Care Nursery Reno Update
On-site Staff & Professional Staff psychological support starts this week
First Wellness Committee meeting was a success!
Hospital to reduce medical waste with $180,000 donation
COVID-19 News
Return to work process after COVID contact revised
Other News
Tour de Guelph 2022 planning to return to a group ride event
GGH News
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion – Meet your new committee
Submitted by Karen Suk-Patrick, Vice President, People and Support Services
On March 23, GGH had its first Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee Meeting, representing a significant step forward in our journey to better understand how we can do better as an organization in creating a welcoming, inclusive and accessible space for everyone at GGH. We hope this Committee will
- help build organizational awareness about the experience of the workforce,
- identify actions that should help to support an inclusive culture, and
- play an essential role in supporting the equity, diversity, and inclusion change management processes.
It was exciting to have our first meeting and embark on this journey. I want to thank the Committee members personally for volunteering their time for this important work. It was clear that everyone was passionate about making a difference at GGH and had some ideas about how we could meet our goals. What excites me about this group is the knowledge and experience they brought, which will help us make meaningful change. I’d invite you to learn more about some of the members here EDI Meet the Committee.
What emerged early on in our first meeting was the importance of education and the need to increase the knowledge and awareness of everyone in the organization about equity, diversity, and inclusion and the barriers faced by under-represented or equity deserving groups.
Once we can recognize there are systematic barriers resulting from our biases, we can make changes – whether it be to our policies, our process for hiring people, our strategies for developing leadership, and how we support our staff. It will take commitment and time and the willingness to listen and understand.
In the months ahead, you begin to see more and more opportunities for education. As previously communicated, GGH recently joined the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion. Planning for leadership training is underway and includes the EDI foundations, which are also open to everyone at GGH to participate.
Your ideas and feedback are always welcome at inclusion@gghorg.ca, and you can learn more on the Healthy Hospital | Equity Diversity and Inclusion site of the intranet.
Special Care Nursery Reno Update
- SCN on track to move to temporary location on April 25
- Construction of on-call rooms has been completed and final deficiencies and clean up is underway. Staff lounges on level 4 and 5 will be back in circulation by end of this week.
- Construction in Paeds Day Surgery area is 90% completed with a delivery of a countertop delaying completion. Anticipated install is April 18 followed by inspections, removal of hoarding and clean up.
- The FBU Conference room (rm 6084) will be transformed into a parent nap room on April 15. No meetings can booked or held there after that date.
On-site Staff & Professional Staff psychological support starts this week
On Thursday April 7, you received an email notifying you about the individual psychological supports GGH will be offering its staff and professional staff starting this month. We are very excited to have psychotherapist, Vij Richards working with us as part of this initiative, who will be working onsite in the Level 1 Conference room two times a month (confirmed dates so far: April 14, 28, May 12,26 and June 9 , 23. Vij recently retired from Trillium Health Partners where she was part of their staff wellness team and was a Registered Occupational Health & Safety Nurse before becoming a mental health professional.
The Individual Onsite Psychological Support pilot program will run from April – September 2022 and will follow a short-term therapy model, where individuals can receive support as needed. Please refer to the email sent last week from Lauren Brown for more information and/or look for posters throughout the hospital to learn more about how you can participate in this exciting initiative.
First Wellness Committee meeting was a success!
This past Monday, the GGH Health & Wellness Program held its first Wellness Committee meeting and it was made very clear that this will be a fantastic working group! There was great representation from multiple areas of the hospital and everyone shared how passionate they were about supporting the well-being of those working and volunteering at GGH. The Committee also made its first major decision in determining the slogan of our program from the anonymous suggestions provided in the 2021 Health & Wellness Needs Assessment Survey. The official “title” is: GGH Health & Wellness: Work Well, Live Well. Our survey provider, Metrics@Work, has confirmed the submission was made by Geoff Wood, who will receive a prize for his winning entry. The next step is the creation of a logo for our program – stay tuned!
Hospital to reduce medical waste with $180,000 donation
World Health Day, founded by the World Health Organization is celebrated annually to spread awareness on a specific health topic of concern. Alectra Inc. celebrated this year’s theme, “our planet, our health,” by contributing $180,000 to the hospital to help reduce the amount of medical waste sent to landfills and to reduce costs.
The new sterilization container system will help save money by eliminating single-use disposable wraps traditionally used to protect the sanitization of surgical instruments, thereby significantly reducing medical waste. Additionally, these containers are ergonomically designed which makes handling the equipment easier for hospital staff.
“We are so thankful for this wonderful donation from Alectra as part of The Foundation of Guelph General Hospital’s $34 million Together, We Care campaign,” said Suzanne Bone, the Foundation’s CEO. “It’s so important, as every piece of patient care equipment we purchase is funded by donations from the community. Alectra’s gift will help us keep staff and patients safe while supporting our focus on environmental sustainability. We’re most grateful.”
COVID-19 News
Return to work process after COVID contact revised
This process is current as of April 12 and subject to change according to Ministry of Health and Public Health Guidance and Recommendations. What’s changed is what to do if you’ve come in contact with COVID Positive/Symptomatic case but you are asymptomatic. Now, you must test negative on a rapid test before returning to work. In addition, you are to book a PCR test five days after your exposure.
Other News
Tour de Guelph 2022 planning to return to a group ride event
Tour de Guelph, presented by Label Design Ltd., returns to a group ride event for its ninth annual ride, with an option to ride anytime.
Riders are welcome to register for the group ride event on Sunday, June 26 or to Ride Anytime on their own between Friday, June 10 – Sunday, June 26. Riders can also register as an individual or as a team.
Tour de Guelph is a family-friendly fundraising event with a cycling route for all skills and abilities. There is a family-friendly 5km/10km route through the Village By The Arboretum, as well as a variety of routes from 25 to 100km.
“We are thrilled to return to a group ride event on the fourth Sunday of June,” remarked Clarence Haverson, Tour de Guelph Co-chair. “Despite being virtual the past two years, Tour de Guelph has continued to inspire community members to ride and fundraise, with last year alone resulting in $165,000 in peer-to-peer raised funds by 366 participants. We are so excited to see what we can achieve this year with a return to our normal event format, plus an option for those who prefer to participate on their own.”
While primarily a fundraising event, Tour de Guelph also welcomes those who prefer not to fundraise.
Sarah Ferguson, Fundraising Events Specialist at The Foundation of Guelph General Hospital explains “For those who don’t want to fundraise, but still want to come out and enjoy a fun community cycling event, they can choose the Free-wheeler option for a registration fee and no fundraising commitment. We really just want to welcome everyone in our community who enjoys riding a bike and would appreciate coming out to this community building event.”
Proceeds from Tour de Guelph support Guelph General Hospital and other local charities through the Rotary Clubs of Guelph South and Guelph Trillium. Over the past 8 years, Tour de Guelph has raised over $722,000 in net proceeds for the community.
Registration is now open and full event details can be found on the Tour de Guelph website www.tourdeguelph.ca.