Download May 2015 Vol. 2

HNHB LHINsight – May 2015 Vol. 2
May 25, 2015
COMING SOON: Minister’s Medal 2015 Information and Application
Packages
2015 marks the third year that the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC)
will be awarding the Minister’s Medal to recognize the excellent work that health care
providers do every day to put patients in the centre of the circle of care.
Team and individual application templates will be made available on the Minister’s
Medal webpage soon. Anyone who wishes to nominate a team or individual must
complete these templates and submit the application to their local LHIN by June 24 at
5:00 pm.
Two recipients (one Individual and one Team) will be presented with the Minister’s
Medal at the Health Quality Transformation Event planned for October 14.
Last year the HNHB LHIN Caring for my COPD program was recognized amongst the
Honour Roll Applicants.
For more on the 2013 and 2014 winners please visit the Minister’s Medal webpage.
1
Help Improve the Quality of Care through the Primary Care and Health Quality Ontario
Patient Experience Survey
The Health Quality Ontario (HQO) Primary Care Patient Experience Survey is an evidencebased tool that will help providers develop a deeper understanding of their patients’ experiences
of primary care, identify what is working well and where there may be room for improvement.
The Primary Care Patient Experience Survey was developed by HQO in collaboration with the
Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario, the Association of Ontario Health Centres, the
Ontario College of Family Physicians, and the Ontario Medical Association.
The questions were designed to generate answers that can be used to support quality
improvement initiatives and the completion of their annual Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs).
This standardized survey was developed for voluntary use, and the unique data gathered from
the survey has the potential to inform improved patient care.
To download the Primary Care Patient Experience Survey, or if you have any questions, visit
the Health Quality Ontario website by clicking here.
Cancer Care Ontario is Looking for Patient and Family Advisors
CCO is the provincial government’s advisor on how to continue to develop the cancer and renal
systems, as well as providing the best access to that care. CCO leads multi-year evidencebased system planning and develops and deploys information systems to help establish
guidelines and standards, while tracking performance targets. Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) is
looking for residents across the province to volunteer their time as Patient and Family Advisors
to help with input on the patient and family journey through Ontario’s cancer care.
CCO’s engagement with patients and families, through programs such as the Patient Family
Advisors, help CCO to drive continuous improvement in disease prevention, screening and the
delivery of care. If you are looking for a meaningful volunteer opportunity that will make an
impact on the healthcare system and are willing to share your perspective and experience with
the cancer care system, CCO would like you to join their Patient and Family advisors.
There are many openings across the province, to see what is available in your region visit their
website by clicking here. Find out more about the role of Cancer Care Ontario advisors at
Patient and Family Engagement.
Who Should Apply?
 Enthusiastic individuals, passionate about making an impact in the healthcare system in
Ontario
 People from diverse backgrounds and areas of Ontario who are comfortable
communicating (speaking and writing) in English
 Individuals who have some experience serving on a committee (through work or
volunteer experience)
 People who are comfortable participating in collaborative environments and engaging in
large meetings through discussion and sharing experiences
 Including, but not limited to, people with recent experience within the cancer system with
conclusion of active treatment within the last 5 years
 Able to make the time commitment for the role you are interested in:
2
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Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) member commitment: A PFAC
member contributes an average of 3 hours per month over a 3-year commitment
Patient and Family Advisor commitment: This role is project-based and can be
flexible to your availability
Citizens’ Reference Panel future
Help shape the direction and priorities for health care in
our region – expressions of interest being accepted until
Friday, May 29.
As we set out to develop our 2016-19 Integrated Health
Service Plan, we are reassembling the Citizens’ Reference
Panel (CRP) and are reaching out to both past participants
and new applicants and asking them to once again be
involved in setting the course for the future of healthcare in our
region.
CLICK HERE to learn more or to complete a form indicating
your interest in participating as a member of the HNHB LHIN
Citizens’ Reference
Find out how Hamilton Health Sciences is planning for the future
This spring, as part of new corporate strategy, Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS)
launched a long-term visioning initiative called Our Healthy Future. It is aimed at
designing the future of care at HHS. Over the next year, they will work together as a
hospital and with the patients, families and communities they serve to establish clear
priorities for their clinical services. They intend to determine what services their
community will need from HHS in the future and how will they deliver them. Beyond
being a plan for the future of their services, Our Healthy Future will be very helpful for
planning any new facilities that HHS may require beyond the next 10 years or longer.
HHS has mapped out an eight-month process to help them move forward with the Our
Healthy Future initiative. The first phase is about research and discovery – asking
people what they think is important, analyzing HHS programs and services, and looking
at population data. HHS has already hosted a series of community listening events and
is continuing its online engagement through its website.
The next HHS community event will happen Thursday, May 28 from 7-9:30 p.m. at
Mountainview Christian Reformed Church (290 Main Street East, Grimsby, ON).
Click here for more information about the Our Healthy Future work that is underway at
Hamilton Health Sciences.
'Take A Breath Singers' find COPD choir helps them do just that
Choir spun out of COPD support group at the North Hamilton Health Care Centre
The article below by Kelly Bennett appeared on CBC News on May 2, 2015. Click here to view
the original article.
Mike Oshanek spoke after choir practice the other day with the weary tone of a
misunderstood artist.
Oshanek has one hit already under his belt, and he's written another song he hopes will
take off. But he's having a little trouble getting it by the ensemble, a group of about 15
sufferers of a lung disease called COPD.
"There's a word in there that they're not too comfortable with," he said. "Maybe I can
find another word, but it's — uh, it's — 'coughing up the sputum from my lungs.'"
The other singers giggled. If Oshanek found the lyric comical, he barely let on. He plans
to set the mucus melody to the tune of 'Winter Wonderland.'
"It's something that we do daily," he said. "So, like I said, once I can get the other
people on board, I'm pretty sure that we could make it part of our repertoire."
The 'sputum' ditty would join the group's breakout hit, a version of the Everly Brothers'
song "Dream" that Oshanek changed to "Breathe" and infused with reminders of the
tools the COPD-sufferers can use to breathe better. Like "pursed-lip breathing," where
patients practice exhaling like they're blowing out birthday candles.
Breathe / pursed-lip breathe
Breathe / pursed-lip breathe
Living with COPD / Doesn't mean the end of me
Whenever I'm struggling all I have to do / is breathe
'People often come here without hope'
The choir spun out of a class at the North Hamilton Community Health Centre called
"Caring for my COPD," led by a team of a social worker, an occupational therapist, a
kinesiologist and a registered nurse. Patients with COPD, often seniors, feel breathless
and find it difficult to breathe deeply to expel the stale air from their lungs.
"It's a progressive and a persistent disease," said Cathyann Hoyle, the registered nurse
who coordinates the program. "People often come here without hope. They don't think
there's much of a future for them."
The team prescribes exercises in the centre gym to help improve patients' ability to walk
and climb stairs. There's no cure, but there are some medications that can help
alongside the therapy.
The choir was a natural progression as the team hopes to address the "spiritual health"
of the patients. Social worker Sib Pryce saw an internet video of a COPD choir in
England about a year ago, and brought the "wild" idea to the centre.
It was a hit.
"It gives people a lot of hope," Pryce said.
'Don't worry, breathe happy'
The Hamilton choir debuted at the COPD group's open house in December. Oshanek
said seeing the English choir singing "Don't worry, breathe happy" inspired him.
'COPD was just four letters to me. All I knew was that it really made me suffer.'- Mike
Oshanek, member of the 'Caring for my COPD' group at NHCHC
"These people are struggling the same way I am, and yet they can sing a whole song,"
he remembers thinking.
Oshanek's diagnosis "shocked" him.
"I was very scared. And the fact that I knew there was something wrong. I couldn't go a
certain distance without having to stop and get my breath and everything," he said.
"COPD was just four letters to me. I really didn't want to know too much more, all I knew
was that it really made me suffer."
But the group, and the choir, helped on two levels: The social one, and a practical one.
"The whole idea of the singing is to breathe from your stomach, practice diaphragmatic
breathing," he said. "We all have a good time. You can't be shy in this group; if there's
something you're struggling with, you just ask."
The choir was featured on a "breathing" themed episode of CBC Radio's Definitely Not
The Opera that aired on May 2, 2015.
More clinics needed for migrant workers
The article below by Jacob Robinson in the Simcoe Reformer on May 19, 2015. Click here to
view the original article.
Area healthcare professionals want to expand a special clinic that helps migrant farm
workers see a doctor.
Last year, about 350 workers came to a clinic held every Friday night throughout the
summer in a meeting room at the Real Superstore in Simcoe and at another one in the
health centre in Delhi.
This year, a few Thursday nights are being added to the Simcoe site, which is staffed
with a physician as well as two or three translators.
But with 4,500 migrant farm workers in Norfolk County every summer, there is a need
for more clinics, said Peter Szota, executive director of the Grand River Community
Health Centre, which oversaw the clinics.
“We started something very novel in 2014,” said Szota. “But there's more to be done to
expand clinics and offer more frequent clinics.”
Similar clinics could be set up in Brant and Haldimand counties, which also have
migrant farm worker populations, he suggested.
Migrant workers, mainly from Mexico and the Caribbean, face a number of hurdles
getting to see a doctor, explained Eustace Orleans-Lindsay, a pharmacist at the
Superstore who was instrumental in setting up the clinic in Simcoe.
They work long hours, sometimes for six or seven days a week, don't have individual
transportation, struggle with language barriers, and aren't on the roster of a family
doctor, said Orleans-Lindsay.
Community walk-in clinics meanwhile have ended due to the formation of family health
teams, he noted.
The workers either don't get the healthcare they need or end up in a hospital emergency
department, sometimes sitting around for hours at a time with their employer just to get
a prescription renewed, he said.
“The fact is the workers faced systemic and avoidable barriers to healthcare,” said
Orleans, who will receive an award for community service from the Ontario Pharmacists
Association in Ottawa next week.
“Most importantly, they are entitled to healthcare,” he said. “They have health cards.
They pay taxes.”
Providing migrant farm workers with healthcare actually saves money in the long run
because treating them now avoids “more costly intervention” and “catastrophic illness”
down the road, said Szota.
It also helps to clear out clogged emergency rooms, he added.
The model used in Simcoe and Delhi is funded with $75,000 from the provincial
government. “That's a relatively modest amount given the number of workers in Norfolk
County, Szota said.
Orleans-Lindsay said he sees migrant farm workers who suffer from muscular skeletal
problems from bending over and lifting as well as other problems such as eye infections
and respiratory problems.
He will receive the Pfizer Bowl of Hygeia Award at the Ontario Pharmacists Association
annual meeting on May 28.
“You don't do stuff to win awards,” said Orleans-Lindsay. “It is very fulfilling to be
involved in a project that affects positively the health outcomes for migrant farm
workers.”
Calendar of Events – For all events click here.
Community Events and Board Meetings
Wednesday, May and June, 2015
Sit to be Fit (Every Wednesday morning)
Haldimand Abilities Centre
42 Main St S, Hagersville
9:30 a.m.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
HNHB LHIN Audit Committee Meeting
HNHB LHIN Office
264 Main Street East, Grimsby
2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Staying Alive Until 105
Simply Grand Seniors’ Wellness Event:
Brant Sports Complex
944 Powerline Road, Paris
10:00 a.m.
HNHB LHIN Board Meeting
HNHB LHIN Office
264 Main Street East, Grimsby
4:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Hamilton Health Sciences Community
Event: Planning our Healthy Future
Mountainview Christian Reformed Church
290 Main Street E, Grimsby
7:00 p.m.
@HNHB_LHINgage Feature Tweets

What a great idea -- take advantage of this for sure if you're on multiple medications!
QT: @DrEricHoskins – If you’re taking 3+ medications you can schedule 1-on-1 meetings
with your community pharmacist with ON MedsCheck ow.ly/NbAix

How can we better deliver health services? Join us June 24 and share your #Priorities4Care.
http://ht.ly/N9nEo

Great to see organizations working together for the community of NOTL and the citizens of
Niagara - congratulations!
QT: @StCatStandard – NOTL retains 12 beds for long-term care: Twelve of the 22 beds lost
to locals when the Niagara-on-the-Lake Hos... http://bit.ly/1R22xDp

Screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer saves lives - learn more
@CancerCare_ON http://bit.ly/1gqvGpU

Big thanks to all the PSWs throughout our communities - thank you for all you do for
patients, clients and families @OntarioPSWAssoc

Congratulations to all the 'Heroes in the Home' and thank you for all you do for your family,
friends and loved ones
QT: @TheSpec – ‘Heroes in the Home’ praised for dedication to ailing seniors
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5634513--heroes-in-the-home-praised-for-dedication-toailing-seniors/ …
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