THUNDER BAY — Seventy-four grants, worth a total $139,265, and an additional $15,000 in volunteer donations were approved for patient care upgrades at the hopital for 2024-2025.
Front line staff at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre apply for the grants to buy some of the "little things" that aren't aren't funded through normal channels. It's the 16th year the hospital has used the Family CARE (Care Advancement Recommended by Employees) grant to empower its staff to improve and enhance patient care and their work environment, said a media release Tuesday.
“These items, big or small, doesn't matter, but it helps them provide quality patient care on a regular basis, and that's what it's all about here,” said Barry Streib board director and the chair of the governance of the Health Sciences Foundation and the chair of the Family Care grants Committee.
The 74 grants range from $4,835 dollars for infant intubation training equipment to $303 for a hearing-assistance device in the cancer centre.
Judy Martinsen, patient flow operations coordinator, said patients who struggle with being hard of hearing deserve to feel included.
“We want to include them as much as we can in their care needs in the hospital, and we want to make sure they can hear exactly what is going on," she said.
And we want to give them that opportunity to answer the questions themselves rather than having family (answer),” she added.
“A lot of times they were just kind of looking around, looking lost trying to almost read lips and finding it very difficult to participate in their own care, when they can't hear what's going on,” said Sean Agostino, patient flow coordinator in the renal department.
For the youngest patients in Thunder Bay, the hospital now has several new needle relief devices.
“When we do IV procedures or any blood work procedures it will help distract the patients and the children and make them feel more comfortable when they're receiving these procedures,” said Nicole Zuefle a registered nurse at Thunder Bay Regional in Pediatric out patients
“I think this would be beneficial not only for pediatric patients but also for anyone receiving any needle pokes or procedures,” added Bryn Roberts a child life specialist at Thunder Bay Regional in pediatrics.
“Without (this) support, we really wouldn't have been able to purchase these devices, so it's made a really big impact,” she added.
“It's about the patients at the end of the day and what the staff need to make sure that that happens for them,” said Strieb.
“All of our donors really go above and beyond the call of duty,” he added.
Information on the Family CARE Grants program at Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre can be found here.
