The Pulse: Community Newsletter December 2022

December 2022

A Message from Karyn Popovich, President & CEO

As we celebrate the holiday season and 2022 draws to a close, I would like to wish everyone in our community and at NYGH, and our many partners, the very best in the weeks and year ahead.

It was an incredible year at NYGH, full of many proud moments and successes, along with great challenges and profound loss.

We began the year with a major spike in hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and a massive blizzard all the while dealing with a province-wide staffing shortage. Last year, along with our health care partners, NYGH worked through many ups and downs. Through it all, our talented team remained nimble, resilient and always focused on providing the best care for our patients, families and communities.

Over the year, we rolled out key strategies as part of our Strategic Plan, Thinking Beyond, to ensure a strong hospital and system of care for generations to come.

Our first Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Framework and our People-Centred Care strategy to deliver outstanding experiences and outcomes for everyone were launched this year. We joined other members of the North York Toronto Health Partners to introduce our Ontario Health Team’s first Strategic Plan under our Shared Purpose, Compassionate North York. We made important strides to transform clinical services, modernize and expand our infrastructure and advance applied research that supports frontline services, and continued to lead the way in harnessing technology to empower patients and improve health outcomes.

This spring, we joined the Ontario Government, our Foundation and community to announce the largest capital expansion in more than 50 years, with plans to build an advanced New Patient Care Tower at NYGH’s General Site and a modern, 384-bed long-term care home, steps from our hospital.

Our exceptional staff, physicians, researchers and learners were recognized for excellence in patient care, teaching and system innovation in Ontario and around the world. At NYGH, we celebrated many awards for people-centred care, leadership and community service, including the Long Service Awards for team members who have been with us for between 20 and 40 years.

We were delighted to welcome many new team members, while wishing colleagues well including a tremendous leader and friend to many, Terry Pursell, President and CEO of the Foundation, who retires in January 2023 after an amazing 13-year journey with NYGH.

We capped off the year on a high note, welcoming our first patients to the new Reactivation Care Centre (RCC) at our beautiful, redeveloped Finch Site. The new RCC is our feature story this month—the perfect end to a memorable year.

I thank all members of our big NYGH community, our amazing staff, physicians, learners, volunteers, donors and partners. On behalf of the NYGH Leadership Team, we invite you to watch our holiday message to you and yours.

Stay safe and be well,

Karyn Popovich

President and CEO

WATCH OUR HOLIDAY MESSAGE HERE

NYGH’s New Reactivation Care Centre Opens Door to Seniors

North York General Hospital (NYGH) is excited to announce the opening of its new Finch Site Reactivation Care Centre (RCC) located at 555 Finch Ave West, the site of the former Branson Hospital.

NYGH’s 120-bed RCC is a much-needed option for seniors who require additional restorative care between a hospital stay and safely transitioning to long-term care, back home or another appropriate setting for ongoing care. Not only is this the right care in the right place for many patients, it will free up hospital beds for severely ill patients who need them.

On December 17 and 18, the new RCC welcomed the first 46 patients from our hospital and from NYGH’s former RCC site at the Humber River Hospital RCC location. The move went very smoothly and the first patients in the RCC are settling in for the next phase in their care.

NYGH’s Bring Your Own Reusable Bag Initiative Aims to Keep Plastic Garment Bags Out Of Landfill

Ask NYGH’s Dr. David Smith what first led him to seriously think about environmental sustainability in his day job as a general surgeon and he’ll tell you it was a conversation with his nephew over a beer.

“My nephew is working in renewable energy as an electrical engineer, so I asked him what he thought of the climate crisis and what the engineers were doing to solve it,” says Dr. Smith, who sits on NYGH’s Environmental Sustainability Committee which is exploring ways to reduce the organization’s environmental footprint, one of NYGH’s Strategic Plan priorities.

“He expressed concern about a general complacency and willingness to defer to others to find solutions and reminded me that the climate crisis is everybody’s problem and responsibility to address.”

Suffer from Headache Pain? This NYGH Neurologist Shares his Tips for Relief

For some, the holiday season can be a time of relaxation and celebration. For others, it can be a time of heightened stress, anxiety and even migraines.

The Pulse sat down with Dr. Zung to learn more about what causes headaches and migraines—which affect 1 billion people worldwide—and how best to manage the pain they cause.

Dr. Zung joined North York General Hospital as a staff neurologist after completing his training and residency at University of Toronto in neurology. He also studied neuromuscular medicine at Yale School of Medicine for a year.

The Pulse is a publication of the Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department at North York General Hospital. Learn more or subscribe.

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