NEWS in General – May 4
A temporary wall is being built on Level 6 to prepare for the Special Care Nursery renovation. Construction is expected to last about a year.
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GGH News
More information about the expansion of our ED
Nurses Week starts Monday
Surveying new hires
FBU’s “Early Discharge Program” marks one year
May is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Other News
‘Mission: Nutrition’ with discounted lunches starts next week!
Goodlife now offering a discount and a chance to win a BBQ
Guelph Wellington Ontario Health Team selected for the Home Care Modernization Leading Project program
GGH News
More information about the expansion of our ED
On Monday, the Ministry announced funding for our proposed renovation and expansion of our Emergency Department. The media release can be found here and our corresponding email to staff, here. As mentioned in the email, the first phase will be the construction of an expanded Emergency Mental Health Short Stay Assessment Unit (SSAU). It will be located on Level One where there is currently the auditorium, Foundation and some offices. Once built, the expanded SSAU will have grown from its previous four to eight rooms to help address the increasing number of patients requiring emergency care for mental health and addictions. The SSAU area will be joined with Emergency Mental Health and Addictions Follow-up services.
The floor plan to the right shows a proposed early draft of the layout of the expanded SSAU. This is bound to be modified as internal consultation ramps up. Shaded in green is the current location of the auditorium. Click on the image to enlarge and to remove the shading so the plan is more legible.
Plans are underway to relocate those currently in the area. More information will be provided as it becomes available.
In the meantime, local MPPs were on site last Friday for a tour highlighting some of the space challenges in the building. In the photo, Dr. Alex Ferguson, Chief of Emergency Medicine (right) directs attention to the crowded nurses’ station in the ED. Learning firsthand the need for more ED space were (l-r); Ted Arnott, MPP Wellngton-Halton Hills and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario along with Mike Schreiner, MPP Guelph and leader of the Green Party of Ontario since 2009.
Nurses Week starts Monday
There’s a fun-filled week of activity planned including:
- Tools of the Trade Nurses Week Shirt sales
- Gift Raffle every day
- Dr. Finnie Award and Professional Practice Award
- Nurses Week Lunch – Thursday, May 12
As another part of the celebration, the quilt to the right will be on display. Donated for Nurses Week by the Evergreen Quilters of the Guelph Wellington, it was made from a kit donated by a 1952 graduate of the Guelph School of Nursing, Marianne Matthews (nee McGillivray). Marianne was a nurse at St. Joe’s, Guelph General and the Victorian Order of Nurses during her career. Some former nurses were part of the quilting group who put together the wall hanging and are pleased it will be part of the Nurse’s Week display before finding a permanent home within the hospital. Thanks to all the members of the GWSA Evergreen Quilters Group for this heartwarming donation!
Surveying New Hires
From January 2021 to January 2022, we hired 406 new employees to join our organization. This is the highest number of new hires in any given year to be onboarded and we want to thank all of the support departments, mentors, preceptors and employees who have played an important part in supporting their new colleagues feel welcomed.
We’ve partnered with McLean & Co, an independent HR research firm, to administer a New Hire Survey to gather feedback regarding our onboarding program. Our onboarding program is essential in welcoming new employees to GGH and preparing them for their new role, and these experiences go a long way in shaping the rest of their time with our organization.
The first survey will be sent out from McLean & Co. on May 11 to the person email addresses of anyone who started working at GGH between September 2021 to February 2022.
Questions will be about your first 90 days and focus on your experience with:
- The recruitment process;
- Hospital orientation (the first week of orientation);
- Training; and
- Working with your team and Manager/Director
As a way of saying thank you for completing the 10-minute survey, participants can enter his or her name to win one of ten $50 vouchers for the Bistro. Winners will get an email will be sent with the voucher attached.
As a third-party provider, McLean & Co. will ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of the responses is maintained. McLean & Co. only shares the aggregate results of the survey and does not share individual responses. No one at GGH has access to the raw data gathered by the survey or to any individual responses. Going forward, all new hires will be asked to complete the new hire survey after their ninetieth day as an employee.
The leadership team is committed to understanding and acting on feedback from our employees to help make GGH an even better place to work. The voices of all employees play a significant role in determining how we invest in people, and ultimately contributes to the overall success of GGH. The same goes with our new hires, and we are excited for the improvements that will come as a result of this program.
McLean & Co will provide an email contact if you have questions about how to complete the survey. You can also reach out to Sabrina Seo, HR/OD Consultant at sseo@gghorg.ca.
FBU’s “Early Discharge Program” marks one year
The end of April marked a milestone for the team in our Rotary of Guelph Family Birthing Unit. It has been one year since the start of its Early Discharge Program (EDP) and over 100 new parents and their babies have benefitted.
Parents receive a home visit by one of our Registered Midwives to perform the ‘well baby’ checks and tests, typically done around 24 hours post-birth, and to provide feeding support. The home visit is available to parents who had been under the care of their family doctor or obstetrician for their prenatal care.
Our Chief of Midwifery, Sarah Cressman, says, “I am so pleased that the EDP is celebrating its first birthday! Our team of midwives has provided excellent care during home visits to over 100 new parents and their babies. Having a shorter hospital stay is a great option for healthy newborns, and I know parents appreciate the support and teaching they receive.”
Comments from participating families have been incredibly positive. Parents appreciate being able to stay comfortably at home particularly when there are other children at home needing care.
May is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
It is an opportunity to raise awareness about the impact of this crime, to better understand its deep cultural and historical roots, to support victims and survivors and to work together to stop the violence.
It’s also an opportunity to highlight the strength and resilience of survivors, and to recognize individuals and organizations working to raise awareness of sexual violence, support victims and prosecute those who cause harm.
Sexual violence is a serious and widespread problem. Anyone can experience sexual violence in their lifetime, however most incidents occur against women and girls.
In Canada, 87% of survivors are women and girls. 94% of those that cause harm are men. 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men will experience sexual violence in their lifetime.
Sexual violence is the most underreported crime in Canada. 95% of survivors do not report their assaults to the police.
Statistics also show that some groups are more likely to experience sexual violence including: Indigenous women and girls, children and adolescents, people with disabilities, those of the LGBTQ2IA+ community and new Canadians.
And tragically, the prevalence of all gender-based violence has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prevention is the key and it is our responsibility. When we speak about prevention, we mean stopping sexual violence before it even has a chance to happen. This means changing the social norms that allow it to exist in the first place, from individual attitudes, values, and behaviors to laws, institutions, and widespread social norms. We can create and promote safe respectful environments through all facets of our lives. We can intervene to stop concerning behavior; promote and model healthy attitudes and relationships.
Other News
‘Mission: Nutrition’ with discounted lunches starts next week!
Did you enjoy “Wellness Wednesdays” in March? We did! Thanks to a very generous donor it is happening again, but four times a week instead! The donor, Ruby Song, was so touched by the excellent care she received at GGH that she wanted to donate back to the staff. What does that mean exactly? Starting the week of May 16, the amazing Bistro staff will be creating delicious and nutritious lunches for only $5 on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday. Then in June, the days will switch to Monday, Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday. We will continue this rotation for as long as we can, hopefully for the rest of the year! As done previously, the meals will be offered on a first come, first served basis.
GGH Health & Wellness would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to The Bistro for their hard work, and to the Foundation for making the connection between this staff support program and Ruby, the grateful patient and donor. By supporting this initiative, they are making healthy food more accessible to our staff, which was a need identified on our recent Health & Wellness Survey. We hope you enjoy this treat!
Goodlife now offering a discount and a chance to win a BBQ
If you were interested in our deal with GoodLife you are now eligible to receive 25% off their membership options. GoodLife has sweetened this deal by offering the chance to win 1 of 5 Napoleon Rogue 365 BBQs (worth approximately $949) if you enroll between May 1 – June 30. For more information and how to sign up, please refer to the email received on April 1, 2022 or email HealthandWellness@gghorg.ca to be sent the information package.
Guelph Wellington Ontario Health Team selected for the Home Care Modernization Leading Project program
There are 42 Ontario Health Teams (OHTs) in the province and the Guelph Wellington OHT is one of seven selected to proceed to the next stage of planning for the Home Care Modernization Leading Project program. Its objective is to:
• Improve responsiveness to client needs, quality, access, equity of care for clients/patients and caregivers, and improved provider experience.
• Build on the development of new models of home care delivery, apply local and international best practices, and leverage lessons learned from prior tests of change.
• Demonstrate potential for new models of care that can/will be enabled by the Ministry’s new legislation and are connected to primary care and other OHT services.
• Expand understanding of home care delivery among OHT partners.
• Share learnings that will help the provincial plan for home care modernization in future phases.
In partnership with Home and Community Care Support Services Waterloo Wellington, GW OHT staff will be working to complete a detailed proposal. For more news about the GW OHT, its monthly newsletter can be found here.