NEWS in General – April 27
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GGH News
Goodbye old Special Care Nursery
Nominate a great nurse!
GGH President and CEO named new regional hospital lead for local COVID-19 response
Celebrating our volunteers
Group insurance plan offers guaranteed coverage for a limited time
COVID-19 News
COVID-19 vaccine booster clinic for third and fourth doses next Wednesday
Other News
GoodLife membership bonus discount deal ends Saturday
Our Psychotherapist is back tomorrow!
The Stress Management and High Performance Clinic – upcoming programs
Our Foundation extends its thanks to staff for help with a recent video
GGH News
Goodbye old Special Care Nursery
Monday was moving day as our smallest patient was transported to our temporary Special Care Nursery. With the old area now completely vacant, work can begin on its complete renovation. Expected to take about a year, the first step will be putting up construction hoarding. Below left, “baby Brian” begins his journey being pushed by Karissa, RN. Then, SCN staff say “so long” to the area that will be completely transformed. Finally, unaffected by the excitement filling the air, Brian seems to have slept through it all.
Renovations are being funded by our generous community through our Foundation’s very successful “Together We Care” campaign.
Nominate a great nurse!
Nominated by their peers, two nurses will be celebrated for their dedication to the profession. There are two $250 awards to be won!
Nominate a nurse who:
- reflects the Mission, Vision and Values of the Hospital
- is hard working
- is a great communicator
- brings the interdisciplinary team together
- is a quick problem solver
- is evidence informed and stays current
- demonstrates outstanding acts of kindness, compassion caring and courage
- makes improvements to care and influences positive outcomes for the patients
To nominate, send the name of your nominee, a description of their qualities that are listed above and a brief story that exemplifies their qualities! Send to nursesweek@gghorg.ca by May 6. Write “Nomination” in the subject line.
GGH President and CEO named new regional hospital lead for local COVID-19 response
“On behalf of the entire Guelph General family, I would like to welcome Julie to her new role as CEO of our Foundation. This community has a history of generously supporting this hospital and I know Julie will continue to steward and grow this philanthropy. Our donor support really makes such a positive difference to our patients and our team. We wouldn’t have the patient care equipment that we do without community support.”
Our President and CEO, Marianne Walker, has taken over the role as hospital lead for Waterloo Wellington’s COVID-19 response. Her appointment follows the recent departure of St. Mary’s General Hospital’s Lee Fairclough.
“I’d like to express my appreciation for the great work Lee did in helping keep the community well informed about the pandemic’s impact on local hospitals,” says Walker.
Her sentiment was echoed by Susan deRyk, Chief Regional Officer, Ontario Health West.
“As we continue to work together as a system to respond and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of good communication cannot be overstated. I am confident that Marianne will ensure that information flows seamlessly across partners, and continue to build on the timely and easy to understand communications that Lee could be counted on to share previously.”
A first order of business for Walker in her role was sharing the news the province has extended its required mask mandate for high-risk settings. “This is most welcome,” says Walker. “Hospitals are still being challenged by both the number of COVID patients and high number of staff off either with COVID or suspected COVID. We know that masks help protect against COVID along with other preventable measures such as vaccination. We are committed to follow the science and continue masking and vaccination mandates.”
Walker says the community still has a large role in supporting hospitals. “Vaccinations and masking continue to be important in reducing the risk of getting COVID and possibly having to come to hospital.”
Celebrating our volunteers
National Volunteer Week, April 24-30, is a time to reflect and honour the volunteers who have served at GGH. While they have not been on site for the past two years, work is being done behind the scenes to have them return. They know they are missed!
Did you know?
- Foundation volunteers have returned to on site work
- The Courtyard Boutique is now open weekdays from 1100-1500
- The Patient & Family Advisory Council volunteers have been meeting remotely and supporting various hospital committees and projects. April 2022 marked their first on-site meeting in 2 years!
- Our on-call Spiritual Care Volunteers have continued to provide virtual and on-site support to patients and their families as requested
- Knitted blankets are still being made in the community to provide comfort to any GGH patient who needs one
Group insurance plan offers guaranteed coverage for a limited time
Guelph General Hospital endorses the Health Care Providers Group Insurance Plan which provides Group Benefits for regular Part-Time and Casual employees and eligible dependents. This year they are celebrating their 25-year anniversary and are offering an Appreciation Open Window from May 1 to June 29, 2022. This offer makes guaranteed coverage available to all eligible employees for enrollments made within the limited 60-day open window. The Complete and Complete Plus plans are guaranteed, with no medical questions asked. For more details, click here.
COVID-19 News
COVID-19 vaccine booster clinic for third and fourth doses next Wednesday
Pfizer vaccine will be administered. A sign-up sheet is posted outside of Employee Health however walk-ins are welcome. Please arrive five minutes prior to your appointment to register and bring your health card and vaccine record (paper or electronic).
If you are coming for your third dose, you will be asked to verify the date of your second dose to ensure it was at least 84 days ago – prior to February 10, 2022 – to be eligible.
If you are coming for your fourth dose, you must be 60 years of age or over or immunocompromised. You will be asked to verify the date of your third dose to ensure it was at least 140 days ago – prior to December 16, 2021 – to be eligible.
Since the clinic is at the hospital, Employee Health Services will automatically get a copy of the vaccine record. If you get a booster dose elsewhere, please email a copy of your vaccine receipt to EmployeeHealth@gghorg.ca. so your records can be updated.
Other News
GoodLife membership bonus discount deal ends Saturday
If you were interested in our deal with GoodLife, you still have a couple more days to get 30% off their membership options. Starting May 1, it moves to 25% (which is still a great discount). Other perks include:
- The $99 enrollment fee has been waved for new members
- You can extend this offer to one family member (you must also join to take advantage of this deal)
- Current GoodLife members may switch their membership over
We have already had over 20 individuals sign up so there could be some familiar faces! For instructions on how to join and take advantage of this great discount, click here!
Our Psychotherapist is back tomorrow!
Vij Richards, Reg. Psychotherapist, will be back on site this Thursday, and she will be working out of the Level 1 Conference Room (right beside the Auditorium). If you are interested in seeing Vij please email her directly to set up a time (VijRich26@gmail.com). You do not have to be working the days she is in, and if the 28th does not work, she is back May 12 & 26. If you would like to see her, but did not get a chance to email her, there will be a schedule posted on the Level 1 Conference Room door showing available timeslots for that day. All you need to do is sign up with an “X” for the time you would like.
The Stress Management and High Performance Clinic – upcoming programs
In the past, GGH has partnered with Kathy Somers who runs the Stress Management and High Performance Clinic out of the University of Guelph, to provide onsite wellness sessions for our staff. Due to COVID-19, all programs are now being run virtually and are listed on the website. If you are interested in a particular upcoming program, please email HealthAndWellness@gghorg.ca as we may try to get a group together.
Our Foundation extends its thanks to staff for help with a recent video
Recently, our Foundation’s marketing and communications staff filmed a video on site to share with donors to the Together, We Care fundraising campaign. The video features a large number of GGH staffers who explain how the $37,496,057 raised will benefit the community through an expanded ED, improved mental health services, new patient care equipment and an expansion of our SCN. If you missed it, watch it here.
Elizabeth Stewart led the video project. “We simply couldn’t create these videos, which are so meaningful for our donors, without the cooperation of staff. We know their days are already busy and are so grateful when they answer our calls for help. I want everyone to know how important their time is and how it will help us inspire ongoing support from the community for GGH.”
Who knows? It could be YOU the Foundation needs help from next! A range of videos are shot each year, from ‘Yes, That Too is Funded by You’ episodes through to Tour de Guelph recaps. Catch them all by subscribing to its YouTube Channel.