The Checkup

Celebrating 30 Years of impaCt on HealtH Care in Wood buffalo

spring 2015

Victorian spring fling raises $175,000 (net) for health care in Wood buffaloDonned in top hats, lacy dresses and gloves, guests were dressed to impress at the Northern Lights Health Foundation’s Victorian Spring Fling, presented by Syncrude Canada Ltd.

On Saturday, March 21, over 500 community members flocked to the inaugural fundraising event, the first ofits kind held at Shell Place. Guests enjoyed an evening of entertainment from comedic emcee and auctioneer, Danny Hooper;music by the Belle EpoqueQuartet; a chef-inspired dinner; and live and silent auctions, all while taking in the sights and sounds of the new Shell Place venue.

According to Jessica Musycsyn, Events Manager for the Health Foundation, the event had many highlights.

“One of the evening’s highlights was the success of the live auction. Danny invited guests to submit last minute auction items, which he referred to as ‘wildcard’ items. Everything from trips, to helicopter and boat tours were offered up, raising over $63,000 for health care in our region,” she says. “It was a thrill to see what guests were coming up with on the spot, with the mutual goal in mind of supporting health care.”

“My favourite moment of the evening was when Markaz Ul Islam asked guests to match their gift of $5,500 towards funding a pulse oximeter during the

“Fund a Need” portion of the event,” says Musycsyn. “Two guests, Lee Junlajeam and Kyle Taback matched the donation, and along with total donations from the audience, over $19,000 was raised!”

This year’s Spring Fling raised a total of $175,000 (net). Funds raised aid the Health Foundation in funding priority medical equipment, programs and services in the Wood Buffalo region.

“THANK YOU to everyone who helped in making this event a success!” says Musycsyn. “It’s a beautiful thing to see how the community comes together in support of a common goal.”

To Musycsyn, health care is something that touches everyone both in our community and beyond.

“Health care is something we all access. There are always improvements that can be made, and it gives me great satisfaction to be part of a team whose goal is to continuously support health care improvements in our region.”

Dallas Kuhr and Pam Lund, Managers at the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre enjoying themselves.

Lee Junlajeam, a Respiratory Therapist at theHealth Centre shares the impact of a pulseoximeter will have on patients.

tHe CHeCkup spring 2015

emergency ultrasound provides patients quick diagnosis for critical cardiac situationsClean room and equipment provides new families with comfortable, calming space

A newly added clean room and specialized equipment is providing new parents and their newborns a comfortable, calming space while receiving care on the Pediatrics Unit of the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre.

The Pediatrics Unit recently installed a clean room and dedicated equipment to minimize the chance of spreading infections between patients while providing new families a private, comforting space while their newborn receives care.

Juanita Pilgrim, Manager of Pediatrics at the Health Centre, explains how the clean room was determined as a need for the Unit.

“The clean room came about because we had a few patients come in with one condition and have to come back again. While it’s not to say that it came directly from us, this was viewed as an opportunity to look at improvements that could be made to better the already great care provided on the Unit,” says Pilgrim, who’s been working on the Pediatrics Unit for the past 15 years. “Dr. Nyati, a local pediatrician, suggested providing a clean area for primarily breastfeeding moms, babies with feeding issues and jaundice babies who we want to keep from interacting with kids that have contagious illnesses.”

As part of the room, the Northern Lights Health Foundation funded two isolette incubators, two bili lights and two recliner beds needed for the newborn patients and their families.

The isolettes provide isolation and care of newborns in a controlled heat, humidity and oxygen environment. “It keeps the baby in a warm, comfortable

environment. It’s almost like they came out of the womb and now we’re putting them back in.

It’s a safe space,” says Pilgrim.“The isolettes have a lot of capabilities, including temperature probes so that nurses don’t have to open it up continuously to check the baby’s temperature.”

Health care providers use bili lights on jaundice babies as a light therapy tool. Jaundice is a condition that

makes a newborn’s skin and the white part of their eyes look yellow. It occurs when a baby’s body has more bilirubin that it can get rid of. Bilirubin is made when the body breaks down old red blood cells. The bili lights use a blue light, which converts bilirubin in the baby’s blood stream so it can leave their body.

The recliner beds provide new parents a comfortable place to sit and rest while their newborn receives care in the clean room.

The clean room in Pediatrics is not only beneficial for the health of the newborns receiving care, but also for the well-being of new parents.

“For new parents, having their new baby

in the hospital can be devastating.” says Pilgrim. “Number one their new baby is in

here and number two they’re in a room with somebody else, so having the clean room is nice for them. They get to have their own private space with their newborn and for new mummies, they can breastfeed in peace.”

One of the new bili lights and isolette icubators in Pediatrics.

One of the two recliner beds in Pediatrics funded by the Health Foundation.

WWW.nortHernligHtsHealtHfoundation.Ca

Thanks to the support of our generous community, cardiac ultrasound services are making a lasting impact on the delivery of Emergency health care services in Wood Buffalo.

In 2010, the Northern Lights Health Foundation funded a fast ultrasound machine for the Emergency Department of the Northern Lights Health Regional Health Centre. The machine provides health care providers the ability to do emergency ultrasounds on patients.

Health care providers working within theEmergency Department use ultrasound to quickly diagnose patients suffering conditions such as chest, abdominal and pelvic pain.

According to Dr. Brian Dufresne, Chief of Emergency for the Health Centre, having ultrasound services available within the Emergency Department is critical to providing patients a standard level of care.

“Ultrasound is the standard of care in all emergency departments in North America so it keeps us up to an acceptable level of care and proves the capacity for us to diagnose in Emergency rather than sending them over to Radiology,” says Dr. Dufresne, a longtime physician in Fort McMurray and Program Director of the Health Centre’s Trauma Program.

In 2013, the Emergency Department reached out to the Health Foundation to assist in expanding their ultrasound capabilities through funding a cardiac transducer probe. This piece of equipment provides Emergency Department Physicians the

means to identify life threatening cardiacconditions such as a bleed in a patient’s heart, heart murmurs and damage to the heart after a heart attack. That year, the Health Foundation funded the probe through the generous support of attendees at their 2014 Spring Fling.

According to Dr. Dufresne, the probe has a significant impact on both patients and staff within the Emergency Department.

“The main impact on patients is early diagnosis of life threatening injuries and from a staffing point of view, it reduces the need to transfer the patient back and forth to Radiology,” he says.

The probe allows health care staff the ability to diagnosis life threatening injuries, providing patients a greater chance at survival and recovery.

It also eases pressure on staff when their patients are facing critical situations, allowing them to provide the highest standard of care possible.

The Health Foundation’s Signature Events such as Spring Fling and Festival

of Trees have supported the funding of priority medical equipment programs and services in the Wood Buffalo region for over 25 years.

to learn more about our signature events, visit www.northernlightshealthfoundation.ca.

emergency ultrasound provides patients quick diagnosis for critical cardiac situations

Dr. Brian Dufrense alongside the Emergency Department’s fast ultrasound machine and cardiac transducer probe, funded by theHealth Foundation.

Contact Us

northern lights Health foundation

7 Hospital Street | Fort McMurray, AB | T9H 1P2Phone: 780.791.6041 | Fax: 780.791.6241

www.northernlightshealthfoundation.ca

twitter: @NorLightsHealthfacebook: NLHealthFoundationYoutube: NLHealthFoundation

Health foundation launches new donor walls

The Northern Lights Health Foundation has turned 30 years old! The occasion was celebrated recently at a Stakeholder Reception entitled, Shar-ing our Story: Celebrating 30 Years of Impact. Guests reminisced over their personal connections to health care, enjoyed speakers and live entertainment from Dan Gillies. The event also marked the launch of the Health Foundation’s new donor wall and in-memorial/tribute donor wall in the Northern Lights Regional HealthCentre.

“The reception was an opportunity to gather with our stakeholders and express our gratitude for their support of health care in our community,” says Paul Taylor, Board Chair of the Health Foundation. “The generous support received by the Health Foundation helps ensure we can improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people living in our community every day.”

The Health Foundation’s story began in 1985, when it was established as the lead health care fundraising body in the Wood Buffalo region. Since its inception, the Health Foundation has funded countless pieces of medical equipment, critical services and vital

programs benefiting those living and working in our region.

“We thank our community for your ongoing and generous support of health care in our region. It’s because of you that the Health Foundation has funded many enhancements to local health care over the years,” says Susanne Chaffey, Executive Director of the Health Foundation. “We’re very proud to serve this great community and we look forward to continuing to work together for years to come.”

The Health Foundation has experienced exceptional growth over its 30 years and has invested over $11 million into community health care in the last six years alone.

With the generous support of our region, the Health Foundation has seen many notable accomplishments including but not limited to, bringing new health care services to our region through funding CT Scanners and an MRI

machine, as well as renovating the operating suites of the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre.

John Foy of Kids Forever and other guests enjoying themselves at the Health Foundation’s Stakeholder Reception.

Katie Kirschner, a Registered Nurse in the InstensiveCare Unit shares her personal connection to health care.