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Luis Castro

Stewart Nadurak

A pair of medical residents is embracing the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in rural medicine.

Dr. Luis Castro and Dr. Stewart Nadurak have embarked on a two-year residency through Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority’s Family Medicine Residency Program.

Through this program, medical residents learn about the needs of rural patients as well as the opportunity to practise in a rural community after their training is complete. Residency is the final training stage for doctors after they graduate from medical school.

It’s familiar territory for both Luis and Stewart, since they both spent time in the region as medical students through the Home for the Summer program. Offered jointly by IERHA and Manitoba Healthcare Providers Network, the Home for the Summer program provides summer work placements for students pursuing a health-care career. 

Read more about Luis and Stewart — and the path that led them here.

You are invited to attend Manitoba's largest health-care education event - #HSCBugDay!

The 26th Annual Bug Day is Tuesday, Oct. 18. Register by Oct. 17.

🗸 FREE

🗸 ACCREDITED for primary care and specialist physicians, pharmacists, and can be used for professional development credits for laboratory technologists and nurses

🗸 VIRTUAL - available through YouTube

Join locally, nationally and internationally recognized experts for this popular day-long symposium. Presentations will address timely significant topics in infectious diseases and public health.

Bug Day is hosted by HSC Winnipeg in collaboration with the University of Manitoba’s Continuing Professional Development Medicine Program. This symposium is free, but you must register to attend.

Click here to find the schedule, abstracts and registration link.

Accreditation Canada’s Workforce Survey on Well-being, Quality and Safety is now available for staff to complete.

Interlake-Eastern RHA must complete a staff survey at least once every Accreditation Canada cycle. The expectation is for 50 per cent of all staff to complete the survey. This includes those that are casual, part-time and full-time employees.

The survey will only take about 20 minutes to complete and, if needed, you can save your session and come back to complete the survey later. The survey is confidential and anonymous.

Surveys will close on Oct. 28 and results should be available in the new year.

Click here to read frequently asked questions about the staff survey.

Today (Sept. 21) is World Gratitude Day!

There are many reasons to be incredibly grateful for more than 62,000 Manitobans who have registered their organ and tissue donation decisions online.

Donating your organs and tissues is an action that saves the lives of many. Your decision to register now using www.signupforlife.ca could one day save up to eight lives and enhance as many as 75 more.

To register, you will need your Manitoba Health card with your Personal Health Information Number (PHIN), your name and your date of birth.

Canadian Patient Safety Week takes place from Oct. 24 to 28, 2022, with the theme of Safer Care for Older Adults.

Share what innovative approach you and your team/unit/program have planned and implemented to provide safer care for older adults. For example, this could be a quality improvement project in response to COVID or another initiative.

A winning entry from each service delivery organization will be selected to win a $150 gift card to celebrate their team’s work on providing safer care for older adults. Winners will be announced during Canadian Patient Safety Week.

Click here for contest entry form. And click here to read a memo about the initiative.

The submission deadline is Sept. 23.

If you have questions, please contact Kathy Hemmerling, quality and patient safety co-ordinator, at khemmerling@ierha.ca. 

The Annual Grandmothers Walk takes place today (Sept. 21) outdoors at the Selkirk Friendship Centre, located at 425 Eveline St. 

The lighting of the sacred fire is at 7 a.m., followed by a ceremony and drumming at 10 a.m. and an awareness walk at 10:30 a.m. A grab-and-go lunch will be provided.

For more information, email sfc@mymts.net. 

Each year, Sept. 30 marks National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.

In Interlake-Eastern RHA, 27 per cent of the people we care for self-identify as Indigenous. This day offers a reminder that our efforts to better understand history will give us a better appreciation of what Indigenous people have experienced and continue to experience. That understanding will make us better care providers. 

Here are some resources to foster reflection:

• Read: Timeline of Residential Schools – The Canadian Encyclopedia 
• Read: The Residential School System – University of British Columbia 
• Read: An Overview of the Indian Residential School System 
• Watch: Death at Residential Schools 
• Watch: Intergenerational Trauma: Residential Schools
• Watch: The Whole Truth About Residential Schools: Then and Now Webinar Series  
• Watch: Residential School Survivor Talks About the Electric Chair at St. Anne’s School CBC 

Questions for consideration: Now that we know about residential schools and their legacy, what do we do about it as health-care workers?

Which calls to action apply to you? Which call to action are you committing to honour in order to advance in reconciliation?

What do you need in order to answer the call?

What can we do today that will contribute to “restoring balance” to Canada’s relationship with the Indigenous community?

Feel free to share your responses for possible publication in the Wednesday Wave by emailing ierhawave@ierha.ca.

Effective Oct. 1, Manitoba Blue Cross is introducing travel top-up and expansive direct billing network for U.S. travels.

Click here to learn more. 

Thank you to Bonnie Peloski, community wellness facilitator, for this submission.  

Working at the Selkirk Community Health Office, we have a lot of programs and staff that will do almost anything to help out anyone who is need — even if you can’t walk in the front doors.

On Aug. 8, I sat at my desk waiting for my computer to open up, looking out the window and what do I see? 

A little bat was hanging out! We weren’t sure if it was alive or how long it’d been there. Upon investigation, we felt it was best to leave it.

When we came back in the next morning, the bat had moved and we were thrilled she was alive! Now what is the IERHA’s policy on bats?

Kristy Magnusson, Manitoba key worker, myself and Jo-Anne Wilson from Manitoba Training & Employment Services decided we needed to call someone who knows how to help our new friend. Jo-Anne called Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre and a bat volunteer was at our office in a matter of minutes.

Gerrie wore leather gloves to take the bat off of the wall and place her in a butterfly container made of material. That way, the bat can hold on to the sides of the container. She said that bat looked to be born this year sometime and was most likely thirsty and hungry. Gerrie stated she believed it was a female. She said the bat would go back with her to Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre and she'd give her water with an eye dropper and some dry mealworms. If she was strong enough, she’d be released that evening.

We did wonder why this little bat was on her own and where her family was. Prior to seeing this bat, a wind and rain storm blew through Selkirk. In the back parking lot of the community health office, trees fell and branches were broken everywhere. It was eventually all cleaned up. Perhaps our little friend’s family lived in the trees and when they were cleaned up, she became separated from her family.

We were very grateful that Gerrie from the Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre was able to rescue her. Some fun facts about bats.

Public health advises that bats in Manitoba have been known to be infected with rabies. Please always call professionals to help in the event that you or anyone you know encounters a bat that appears to need assistance.

Staff members at Whitemouth Personal Care Home donned their best hats and pearls in honour of the Queen.

Right to left: Valerie Coburn, Jackie Olson, Cheryl Fudali, Heather Shultz, Val Proceviat (front), Anita Giasson (behind Val Proceviat), Amber Pawlyshyn and Lois Thomson

Click here to visit QSS or call payroll at 1-855-866-4430 if you need assistance checking your schedule online. 

From Sept. 4 to 10, there were 342 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in Manitoba, a decrease from 475 in the previous week.

The volume of lab tests decreased to on average 327 people tested for COVID-19 per day compared to 344 in the previous week, and the positivity rate of lab tests was 19.9%, a decrease from 22.5% in the previous week.

Severe outcomes associated with COVID-19 infection decreased compared to the previous week. There were 65 hospital admissions including 10 ICU admissions and 7 deaths.

Read more. And click here for info about outbreaks in the Interlake-Eastern region. 

New infection control support associate positions are specifically for personal care homes. These targeted positions are funded by Manitoba Health as part of the recommendations contained in the Stevenson Review, which outlines 17 actions to address both immediate and longer term changes required to strengthen Manitoba’s long-term care system.

These positions are not nursing specific – individuals with a bachelor’s degree in a health-related discipline who have taken, or will take, infection prevention and control courses to meet the qualifications are eligible.  

The infection control support associates will be working in assigned personal care homes daily with a focus on implementing, monitoring and evaluating infection prevention and control policies and practices supporting safe resident care.

Applications are now open on QSS under “Allied Health." Click here to read the job description. 

Incidences of violence and reactive behaviour in IERHA.

Violence Prevention training is mandatory for all staff in Interlake-Eastern RHA. Modules 1, 2 and 4 need to be refreshed every three years. Managers and supervisors are also encouraged to complete Unit 5. .

• Unit 1 is a 30-minute online course that provides an overview to violence prevention in health care. Topics include violence and responsive behaviours, screening and alerts, person-of-interest protocol and responsibilities.
• Unit 2 is a 45-minute online course that focuses on how building relationships can help to lessen and prevent violent incidents. Topics include preventing violence, signs of escalation and early intervention.
• Unit 4 is a 40-minute online course that focuses on how to manage violent, aggressive and responsive behaviours. Topics include signs of imminent harm; managing violent incidents, self-protection and physical safety techniques; and after-incident reporting and debriefing.
• Unit 5, geared for managers and supervisors, is a 30-minute online course that focuses on manager responsibilities, workplace assessments, persons of interest, post-incident reporting and worker support.

We can all work together towards a safe working environment by completing these modules.

Course registration is available through LMS, where you can also check your learning history to see when you’re due to renew your required education courses.

In addition to the violence prevention modules to help practise the skills we need to keep ourselves safe, in-person workshops will roll out in the fall that will focus on de-escalating violent situations.

Livestream TODAY with Dr. Joss Reimer

The COVID-19 pandemic presented health professionals with unparalleled challenges. Join in this discussion with Dr. Joss Reimer, former medical lead and official spokesperson for Manitoba’s Provincial COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce, to gain insights in communicating the nuances of public health recommendations, contending with misinformation and making decisions in the absence of evidence.

Event Title: Reflections on Leadership During COVID-19: A Discussion with Dr. Joss Reimer

Date: Sept. 21, 2022

Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (CDT)

Click here to register for this free event. And click here to see a poster.

Order cut-off Oct. 7 for delivery to corporate office the week of Oct. 28.

Visit our online shop.

We're looking for your story ideas!

Send your submission of 250 words or less to ierhawave@ierha.ca by Friday and we'll work to get your story into the next issue.

We're taking a break from publishing editions in weeks following statutory holidays.

There will be no issue of the Wednesday Wave published on Oct. 12.