Visit Assiniboine Community College website for this annoucement.

The Horizon Health Network (HHN), Maritime SPOR Support Unit (MSSU), and University of New Brunswick – Centre for Research and Integrated Care (CRIC) is looking for participants for the Compensation-Related Barriers and Facilitators to Patient Engagement in Canadian Academic Health Research Study.  It is an opportunity to share their experiences with what works and what does not work for compensating patient partners, and how this affects inclusion. It is very important that to from a wide range of individuals in the following fields: 

• Health researchers 
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) staff 
• Administration & finance staff at universities across Canada 
• Patient partners in academic health research 

Individuals who fit the criteria above may complete a pre-screening survey to determine their eligibility to participate in the virtual focus group or interview for the study.  

Contact Sam to participate: [email protected] or (506) 566-2728

Please let us know if you require any accommodations to participate.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Samantha.Fowler@HorizonNB.ca or (506) 566-2728. If this email is better suited to someone else in your community, or if you would like to share this with another organization, please feel free to forward this along or let me know and I will reach out to them. 

This study has been reviewed by the research ethics boards at the University of New Brunswick (File# 2023-037) and Horizon Health Network (File# 2023-3217) 

Please see public notice updated here.

The Prawda Outreach Primary Care Clinic is temporarily closed due to the sale of the building. We are working with community to find a new location to hold the clinic. In the meantime, please make an appointment at Whitemouth Clinic by calling:  204-348-2291

Please be advised that tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 7 there is an all-day power outage scheduled for the Lundar PCH and clinic/community health office. This means that there will not be phone and internet services. The PCH will continue to have limited power to keep residents and staff comfortable. The clinic and community health office will be closed. Phones and emails will not be answered. Please call back on Wed., Nov. 8.

This power outage is necessary for updating the generator onsite.

Selkirk QuickCare Clinic is closed Sunday, November 5th. We apologize for the inconvenience and will reopen on Monday, November 6. Click for clinic details.

Interlake-Eastern RHA’s virtual Annual General Meeting on October 10, 2023 saw just over 130 staff and community members login virtually for a review of activities and upcoming priorities.

Vice chair of the board of directors, Cyndi Typliski, was the master of ceremonies. The meeting opened with a prayer from Gwen Traverse, director of health, Pinaymootang First Nation and welcome from Robert Maytwayashing, Indigenous human resources development officer.

Board chair Michele Polinuk talked about adapting after the pandemic and she outlined the board’s governance structure and the progress towards achieving the goals of the RHA’s 2021-2028 strategic plan. She also announced the four winners of the Chair’s Award for Excellence in Customer Service.

“Staff members submitted 21 outstanding nominations this year and every one of these people reflects the culture we’d like to build in this organization,” Polinuk said.

To the winners Polinuk said, “How you choose to show up to work, what you bring to your workplace, and how you make the people around you feel good is inspiring to us all!”She recognized the following staff members:

Clinical team manager Clayton Fisher at Lac du Bonnet’s personal care home is supportive and caring towards residents and staff, as well as being professional and knowledgeable.

Val Kozyra, administrative assistant at Rosewood Lodge personal care home in Stonewall, embodies the region’s mission and values in her interactions with the public and colleagues. Her calm, positive and helpful demeanor is appreciated.

Licensed practical nurse Allison Maki works at Lac du Bonnet Personal Care Home. A proponent of learning what is important to residents and engaging them through their interests, Allison started out as a health-care aide and enrolled in the licensed practical nursing program to come back to work as a nurse. 

Glenn Shymko, regional manager of facilities management and capital planning, goes out of his way to make things happen, even with short notice. He is reliable and capable in his behind-the-scenes work.

Chief executive officer, Marion Ellis, was joined by the RHA’s senior leadership team that included Paul Barnard, Tanya Cheetham, Kate Hodgson, Dr. Charles Penner, Katherine Podaima and Julene Sawatzky, to give an overview of the region’s activities this past year and touch on the upcoming priorities.

Other speakers included Dr. Tim Hilderman, medical officer of health for Interlake-Eastern RHA. Presenting the finance report were Murray Werbeniuk, chair of the finance committee of the board, and Lorianne Kowaliszyn, IERHA’s regional lead of corporate services and chief financial officer.

Receiving the CEO Award for Community Leadership was Suzanne Nicolas, dean of the school of nursing at Assiniboine Community College. The award recognized Nicolas’ commitment to providing locally accessible education opportunities within the region.

A recording of IERHA’s AGM and the IERHA 2022-2023 Annual Report can be accessed at www.ierha.ca under “About us” and “Annual General Meeting”.

Photo Cutline:  Interlake-Eastern RHA’s board of directors hosted the 2023 Annual General Meeting on October 10,2023.

Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority (RHA)has recently received acknowledgment that it is continuing to deliver health care that adheres to internationally recognized standards of quality and safety. Accreditation Canada has granted “Accredited” status to Interlake-Eastern RHA.

Surveyors met with staff and community members over a six-day period in June to assess over 3,100 criteria. As part of the survey, Interlake-Eastern RHA sites were assessed by a team of surveyors who work in the field of health-care in facilities all over Canada. In the accreditation report, surveyor observations reflect: “Remarkable staff going above and beyond” and “Clients are genuinely happy and feel well cared for.”

Interlake-Eastern RHA’s board chair, Michele Polinuk says she’s proud of the work.

“The region and staff are all still adapting to a post pandemic world,” says Polinuk. “We have come a long way in that time and I commend our staff on their hard work using required operating procedures that focus on patient safety and quality care.”

A team of surveyors from Accreditation Canada last visited Interlake-Eastern RHA in 2019 as part of a four-year accreditation review cycle.

Accreditation Canada is a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to working with patients, policy makers and the public to improve the quality of health and social services for all. Providing organizations with an independent, third-party assessment, Accreditation Canada evaluates organizations on standards that reflect internationally accepted best practices.

The Accreditation Canada report and executive summary are posted online. Visit Publications & Reports – Interlake-Eastern RHA (ierha.ca) and click Accreditation reports to see the latest report.

Please click here to read the second provincial respiratory virus update.

Read more here: https://assiniboine.net/community/news-events/news-assiniboine/assiniboine-announces-practical-nursing-site-beausejour

Patients in Ashern’s Lakeshore General Hospital now have cheery artwork to look at in their rooms thanks to students from Ashern’s Central School.

At the end of June, groups of middle years students painted large four-foot by eight-foot pieces of plywood with fun bright scenes for the rooms impacted by the construction of the new addition. The construction project is expanding the emergency department with additional treatment space and increasing the number of inpatient beds.

Ashern Lakeshore General Hospital Guild chair Shelley Bjornson heard during a planning meeting about the opportunity to provide some murals for the patient rooms and immediately thought of the middle years students at Ashern Central School where she substitute teaches. She talked to Grade 5/6 teacher Shannon Kosolowski and they were able to organize it as an end-of-year school project for the middle years students to do in groups of three or four.

“To kick off the project, we met with each group individually and told them about the project and the goal was to make something that would make someone feel happy. We discussed the importance of simplicity. They did a little research on hospital murals and, as soon as they had inspiration, they sketched rough design and went to the woodshop space and sketched it out and created final project,” Kosolowski said. “The educational assistant worked hard to support the students on this project too. The best part is that many live near the hospital or know family that do, so they were so proud and excited to tell their aunts, uncles, grandparents about what they did at school for the local hospital.”

Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority CEO Marion Ellis thanked everyone for their involvement.

“Thank you to Shelley and everyone at Ashern Central School for going out of their way to provide the patients in the hospital with warm, uplifting murals for their rooms while we undergo construction,” Ellis said. “We’ve heard from patients that the artwork is appreciated.”

The plywood murals were placed in the windows of existing patients’ rooms in Ashern’s Lakeshore General Hospital, where they are expected to remain during the duration of the construction project, that’s expected to be completed by fall 2024.

At the end of June, groups of middle years students including Lily DeFoort, Keara Buenafe and Danni Vanderveen painted large four-foot by eight-foot pieces of plywood with bright scenes for the rooms impacted by the construction of the new addition at Lakeshore General Hospital.

Construction is well underway on the expansion of Selkirk Regional Health Centre. Thirty acute care inpatient beds and three emergency department treatment spaces are being added, enhancing the health centre’s ability to treat and monitor patients. The new beds will allow care to be delivered locally for an increased number of inpatients and a higher volume of surgical and endoscopy patients.

The health centre’s emergency department remains open during the redevelopment of the waiting room. Patients entering the emergency department will notice the construction but accessing registration and triage will remain the same. There will be signage and people on site to help direct patients.

From August 8 to 11, patients attending the emergency department will be directed to use a door to the side of usual entrance.

Once the waiting room renovations are complete, construction will begin on three new treatment spaces in the emergency department. When work concludes, Selkirk Regional Health Centre’s emergency department will offer greater patient privacy and better sight lines for staff who monitor patients and the waiting area. Work is expected to conclude by March 2024.

Questions? Please visit www.ierha.ca or email [email protected]

IERHA CEO Marion Ellis attended an announcement by Seniors and Long-term Care Minister Scott Johnston about new personal care homes in Arborg, Stonewall, Lac du Bonnet and Oakbank in addition to two in Winnipeg. These beds mark a 50 per cent increase to our personal care home beds total for the region. As well a new community supportive living pilot was announced for highly specialized care for seniors with complex mental health or behavioral needs to have a safe, supportive environment. Read more here news release.

A Peguis First Nation family tells their story of cancer care support to Terra Indigena newspaper

On Wednesday, June 16, 2023,Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority’s spiritual health coordinator, Ferdinand Funk presented 10 people with their Spirit of Caring volunteer education resource certification of completion.  As graduates, the students are eligible to volunteer with the region’s spiritual health program, providing spiritual health services to patients and residents of personal care homes under Funk’s supervision.  

At the graduation ceremony held in the Spiritual Health Centre of Selkirk Regional Health Centre, Funk said the graduates geographically represented eight communities in the region.

“Graduating here today we have people from across the region,” says Funk. “These people are the lifeblood of the spiritual care program in the region.”

Under the guidance of the spiritual health coordinator, Interlake-Eastern RHA’s spiritual health care services are provided by spiritual health volunteers who are trained to provide compassionate, non-denominational care and support upon the request of patients and their families. Spiritual health care practitioners provide support and services that can include:

• Spiritually attentive listening with an open mind
• Paying attention and responding to experiences of suffering
• Companionship through life’s changes and decisions
• Faciliating connections to clients’ religious, spiritual or cultural communities
• Arranging ceremonies, sacraments, rites of people’s choosing
• Increasing self-awareness and building inner strengths
• Kindness, compassion and respect from another human being
• Holistic care based on hope, spiritual diversity, inclusivity
• Honoring the mystery of everyday life

Graduate, Wilbert Reimer from Arborg shares that he heard about the Spirit of Caring Course through his local church.

“I thought I could be a listening ear for patients and applied. Throughout the course, I learned a lot about suffering and spirituality. All of the sharing was so helpful – there was a lot of wisdom too,” says the father of five originally from Belize, “I have a deeper understanding and aim to make a difference in more lives.”

Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority recognizes that spiritual health is an important part of holistic health care that must be considered when exploring patient illness. Taking the time to nurture relationships and recognizing the importance of spirituality in health care is an essential part of providing care to patients as a whole.

For more information on spiritual health care services in our region, visit www.ierha.ca and click on About Us and Volunteer Opportunities.