Dr. Ziyad Alanazi’s “Heart Ride” (undertaken as part of our 2024 Sou’West Walkathon) raised almost $1,000 for the cause! We are very grateful to Dr. Alanazi and all who donated.
We knew it was a great story, and Saltwire agreed! Check out their article and learn more about this generous man and his story!
The Yarmouth Regional Hospital is, to put it mildly, a big place. With more than 120 inpatient beds and four operating suites, it’s easy to imagine the immense load of laundry generated every day. And of course, someone has to handle it! Enter the Laundry Services Department.
As it happens, this team not only has to handle all the laundry from our regional hospital, but Digby and Roseway Hospitals as well. Twice a week, laundry comes from both hospitals and is washed, dried, and folded along with the rest from Yarmouth. This means that approximately 24,000 pounds is processed by the Laundry Services Department every single week!
What does this laundry consist of? “We handle sheets, johnnies, OR and ED scrubs, and even a little bit of personal laundry for patients in long-term care when necessary. Rounds are done several times a day,” says Robbie LeBlanc, Assistant Manager of Facilities Support Services. It’s a lot of work for this small team (6 full-time, and a couple part-time), but it’s vitally important — yet another example of the tireless effort put in behind the scenes at Yarmouth Regional Hospital.
Dr. Shelley Cobbett in one of several clinical learning and simulation center labs at the Dalhousie School of Nursing (Yarmouth Campus).
If you want to learn about the changes seen in nursing education throughout the past 35 years, Dr. Shelley Cobbett is one of the best people to speak to. A faculty member of the Dalhousie School of Nursing (Yarmouth Campus) since its inception in 1995, as well as during its previous iteration as the Yarmouth Regional Hospital School of Nursing since 1988, she has been the site administrator since 2019. She has had a true firsthand view of this ever-evolving field.
“I graduated from the Yarmouth School of Nursing in ’84, at a time when there were no nursing positions to be seen east of Ontario. Right now, we’re in a shortage,” Shelley explains. But more has changed than just availability of positions. “It’s rare that a student can go to university and not have to work. It’s not like it was 15-20 years ago when they were being told “Thou shalt not work while going to school for nursing”. That’s not the reality anymore.”
With times such as they are, the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation recognizes that scholarships are more important than ever. We are proud to offer nine scholarships to first-year students accepted and enrolled full-time in the Dalhousie University Bachelor of Science Nursing program (Yarmouth Campus). “We always work very closely with the foundation. The scholarships are amazing,” says Shelley. “We see the difference in some of our students’ lives, especially those students who are really struggling financially.”
If you are a first-year student attending the Dalhousie School of Nursing, learn more today! We’re here to help foster the next generation of healthcare professionals. The deadline for this years’ applications is September 30, 2024.
Hospitals are bustling, complex systems full of skilled and educated individuals, any of whom the healthcare system would not be able to function without. But ask anyone and they will tell you – the beating heart of any hospital is its nurses.
One of these nurses is Perioperative Team Lead Deborah Janke. Having been an LPN in the operating room for 10 years, she decided to further her training and become an RN. “An RN is often in charge of a care plan or in charge of more acute patients, but they also do more management and take on more of an educator role,” Deborah explains. But beginning any such journey can be daunting, with financial concerns substantial consideration. As Deborah remembers, “I still had a mortgage, still had car payments, still had all those things in life that I had to pay for.” Luckily, the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation was here to help.
With a number of nursing scholarships specifically available for students attending the Dalhousie University Bachelor of Science Nursing program (Yarmouth Campus), we at the foundation are proud to support the next generation of nurses. “Many others in my class received them,” says Deborah “and everybody who had them was grateful for the help! The school was really helpful in letting us know about the scholarships and showing us how to apply, etc. I was very happy about it.”
If you’re taking the next big step in your education at Dalhousie School of Nursing (Yarmouth Campus), check out our scholarships today!
The folks on the Environmental Services team at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital are used to being called “housekeepers” – but there’s far more to what they do than simple cleaning work.
“Anything that needs cleaning top to bottom – offices, delivery rooms, operating rooms, patient areas, lobby, all the bathrooms, entrances – you name it, they take care of it all,” says Robbie LeBlanc, Assistant Manager of Facilities Support Services. “But really, we’re here to keep the hospital safe. Infection control is a big thing! We keep germs from spreading from room to room, from patient to patient, and from staff to staff. It’s not only about the patients. We’re keeping everyone who walks through our doors safe.”
Environmental Services team member Felicia Hirschfeld is ready to get to work! With six weeks’ experience on the job, she is one of the newer members of the team.
The training that goes with the position is extensive, and proper use of personal protective equipment is vital, given the staff’s proximity to illness and infectious disease. In fact, due to the level of care and attention given to the cleanliness and safety of our hospital, some Environmental Services workers can use up to 50 pairs of disposable gloves per day.
The job can be quite physically demanding as well, but there’s a large team to handle it all. “We have about 45 or 50 people who work here during the day and night. We’re at it 24 hours a day!” explains LeBlanc.
Here at the foundation, we’re sure you’ll agree that this is an invaluable team. So this Environmental Services Week, let’s give our thanks to the professionals who work so hard to keep us, our hospital, and our loved ones safe!
Ann Jones, the newly appointed Chair of the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation’s board of directors, brings a lot of experience and passion to her new role. “I’m a volunteer at heart,” she says. “I love being active in my community, and I’ve been on many boards, including SHYFT, the Canadian Mental Health Association, and the Boys and Girls Club Board. I’m also a partner in the Yarmouth Waterfront Gallery.” When an opportunity to serve as a board member came up, she leapt at that chance. “It’s really important that I do this,” she realized.
The foundation’s mission, of course, is to support and enhance the Yarmouth Regional Hospital. And, as Ann explains, one of the chief ways we do so is by making the hospital an appealing place for doctors. “If we don’t have a hospital with the latest technology, we don’t attract the doctors or other healthcare professionals that we absolutely need. Without them, we can’t give the best care possible. So, I’d like to continue our strong collaboration with all partners involved. The hospital is a system, and all parts of that system need to work together.”
Continuing the foundation’s work of supporting our regional hospital may be her focus, but she has another goal as well – keeping the joyful atmosphere she sees in all the foundation’s endeavors. “When I see events like the WE CARE Radiothon, people are happy about giving. I think that excites me the most, that the foundation is so respected in this community. People know who we are, and they know that we deliver. So, when they give, they give from the heart. And we live in a very giving community.”
The work in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is high-tech, fast-paced, and critical — and Kathy Ogden loves it. After graduating from the Yarmouth School of Nursing in 1978, Kathy was a nurse for 20 years when she took an assignment in the ICU and fell in love. She’s still in love with this position even after 25 years, so much so that she’s not ready to retire 10 years after she became eligible.
There are seven patient rooms and one treatment room in ICU, which allows for a variety of procedures, even the installation of temporary pacemakers. ICU is for critically ill patients, often those with heart or respiratory illnesses and those needing new acute dialysis requiring additional monitoring. These patients often require one-on-one care from a nurse, or perhaps one nurse can look after two or even three patients — but no more.
Kathy has been team leader for 10 years. While the nurses work 12-hour shifts — four on days, four on nights — the team leader works 7-3 Monday through Friday. Given her knowledge base and experience, she can provide support and advice to the other nurses. She also handles needed paperwork and fills in when a nurse needs assistance or a break.
In addition, up to 12 patients also can be monitored on 3-East or 3-South, and that’s because they have monitors that are connected to ICU. “We in ICU monitor them to determine if they need help, from asking the floor nurses to check on them to rushing to the bedside to deal with a critical development. We keep a close eye on them to determine if they need help and what kind,” Kathy says.
Years ago, many ICU patients would have been transferred to Halifax or Kentville for specialized care, but that happens much less often, Kathy says. “Now they can be treated right here at home,” she says. She attributes this to technological improvements and to the fact that ICU now has more internal medicine doctors, including a cardiologist and an intensivist, along with internal medicine fellows (doctors completing their training).
She credits the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation for funding many of the machines and devices that provide life-saving care — from the portable ultrasound that is used daily to ceiling lifts to special chairs that allow patients to sit up properly. “I get excited when we get some new equipment that the foundation has purchased,” Kathy admits. “The foundation has been very supportive when the need is there.”
It’s not every day you get a call asking for volunteer opportunities, and even rarer when they offer to pay for the privilege! But we at the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation were very happy to hear from Danny Reid, an investment retirement planner at Yarmouth RBC. As part of RBC’s Employee Volunteer Grant program, eight volunteers offered to spend a couple of hours weeding and gardening in front of Veteran’s Place at Yarmouth Regional Hospital. The resulting donation of $1,500 will help us fulfill our mandate of supporting and enhancing healthcare in our region!
The RBC Volunteers presenting YFH Managing Director Mary Surette (second from left) with their donation.
As Nonie Crowell (Assistant Bank Manager, RBC Yarmouth Branch) says, “The Yarmouth Hospital Foundation is a very important part of the community. Whenever we can, we will give to them.” Indeed, RBC has also assisted with our WE CARE Radiothon for numerous years. It’s all part of their employee initiative that aims to help our communities thrive.
Community-led fundraisers such as this enable the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation to expand our support throughout the Yarmouth Regional Hospital. If you’re interested in hosting a community fundraising event, give us a call at 902-749-1669. We’d be happy to help with promotion!
A generous Yarmouth couple has endowed the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation’s newest scholarship — an annual $1,000 scholarship for students enrolled in the LPN program at the Burridge campus of Nova Scotia Community College.
“It’s our way of giving back,” say foundation supporters Ron and Bev Smith. They decided to make this incredible contribution as an endowment to the Licensed Practical Nursing program because it’s a gift that keeps on giving. (An endowment means that the principal is invested and the return on the investment covers the scholarship each year.)
Ron knows about investments — he had a career as chief financial officer in several industries. Ron and Bev also both have strong connections to the healthcare field — Bev as a nurse and Ron as a former chair and director of the IWK Health Centre. They both grew up in Yarmouth, but they moved back from the Halifax area in 2006 when they retired. They quickly found their ideal home with a huge picture window giving them a beautiful view of Lake Milo.
Bev and Ron are particularly concerned about the stresses aging baby boomers like themselves are placing on healthcare and the need to step up recruitment of professionals in the field. “Our scholarship is a way to make a tangible difference for years to come,” Ron says, adding they hope their gift will inspire others to contribute.
Bev remembers how important it was to her own nursing career to receive a $500 scholarship. That was in 1970, she says. It paid her tuition and some other expenses.
The Smiths’ scholarship joins two others for the Burridge program that are funded by the foundation. The foundation also administers nine scholarships to the Dalhousie School of Nursing, Yarmouth Campus.
LPNs may make up to 50 percent of the nursing staff in some departments at the Yarmouth hospital, and the Burridge program has a reputation for more hands-on clinical experience than available at similar programs elsewhere in the province. “We hope our scholarship can inspire some young people to enter the nursing field,” Bev says.
Further details regarding scholarship applications will be available in September.
Here at the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation, we’re always thrilled to see local organizations as excited about supporting and enhancing our regional hospital as we are. So, this spring, our hearts were warmed to hear about the Run for Good 5K, organized by Boatskeg Distilling, Strong Tides Crossfit, and Apollo Sport & Wellness Centre. The run’s proceeds went to us here at the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation, specifically to be put towards the Inpatient Recreation Therapy program at our regional hospital.
This program aims to support individuals mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually by aiding in accessing recreation/leisure activity. As co-organizer Jocelyne D’eon said “We wanted to try and help with mental health — it touches everyone.” And mental health is a huge component in recreation therapy! As recreation therapist Emily Jackson explains, “The program uses recreation and leisure to support motivation, overall mood, self-esteem, and social connection by providing purpose and quality of life.”
With just under 70 runners signed up, the Run for Good 5K was a popular one for the local running community as well, and the bright and sunny weather only added to the great vibes. Door prizes were given out, and many enjoyed a few drinks after the run when they headed to the nearby Boatskeg Distillery (with portions of the drinks’ proceeds also going to the Inpatient Recreation Therapy program).
“The recent donation has a big impact on the program,” Emily Jackson went on to say. “We have implemented a garden space at one of the hospital entrances, and this donation helped us purchase supplies for the patients to connect with the outdoors and gardening. Each day the recreation therapy team brings patients to the space to care for the garden and enjoy some sunshine!”
When the community comes together to support healthcare, we all win. And thanks to gracious community partners such as by Boatskeg Distilling, Strong Tides Crossfit and Apollo Sport & Wellness Centre, the staff at our regional hospital can feel truly supported.
The New Biological Safety Cabinet
When facing a cancer diagnosis, we can expect thorough treatment that mitigates as many risks as possible. But there’s often more that goes into our treatment than we realize!
For instance, patients receiving chemotherapy at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital have their chemotherapy drugs mixed onsite in the Pharmacy Department. To make sure that each dose is safe and sterile, they all need to be mixed in a biological safety cabinet. Not only does this keep the doses safe, it keeps the pharmacy staff safe as well as they mix these cytotoxic drugs. It’s just one example of the behind-the-scenes work that must take place for our healthcare system to run efficiently, smoothly, and safely.
When we were approached by Maggie Arenburg (Manager, Pharmacy South West Nova Scotia) and Pam Robichaud (Manager, WZ Cancer Care Program) and told of their need for a new biological safety cabinet (at a cost of $25,318), we knew we had to step in to help. According to Pam and Maggie, “Given the rising number of cancer diagnoses in recent years, the replacement of our old, antiquated equipment was essential and timely.”
Karen Gorst and Kristen Pulsifer at Work (L-R)
Put simply, the hospital’s patients and staff both deserve to be as safe as possible – and we were proud to do our part. In spring of 2024, the new cabinet (sometimes colloquially referred to as a “chemo hood”) were installed in the Yarmouth Pharmacy Department. Without this, provision of lifesaving chemotherapy in Yarmouth would be either impossible or significantly delayed. And it’s all made possible because of our inspiring donors who understand the need for supporting and enhancing healthcare in our regional hospital!
The Yarmouth Hospital Foundation is holding its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, June 11th, 2024, at 5:30pm. It will be held in the Bluenose Room, at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital.
Everyone is welcome to attend — however, only members are eligible to vote. Eligible voters are those individuals who have made a donation since last year’s AGM.
For more information, reach out via email at info@yarmouthhospitalfoundation.ca, or by phone at 902-749-1669.
The new laparoscopic suites at Yarmouth Regional Hospital (YRH) are to the ones installed a dozen years ago as smart phones are to flip phones. Almost everything in the two operating rooms is brand new — lights, monitors, screens, beds, cameras and all of the other technology and specialized equipment our surgeons need to do their work, says Gina Leaman, nurse manager for Perioperative Services. (Perioperative is the term for the whole process from admitting to procedure to recovery.)
One of YRH’s two upgraded laparoscopic suites.
The new minimally invasive surgical (MIS) suites were made possible thanks to the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation, which covered the full cost of $1.5 million. “The old suites were a big improvement but the new suites are a thousand times better,” says team leader Deborah Janke. “The technology is so much better for patients, as well as the staff.” It allows the surgical staff easy visual access to x-rays, CT-scans and MRIs, and that improves accuracy and speed, Deborah says.
Since Yarmouth Regional is a teaching hospital, medical residents and student nurses often attend and the camera system and monitors can shift around to get the best views for the surgeons and nurses and to help them teach. About half of all surgeries are laparoscopic, but the equipment is also a major asset for open surgeries, making detailed visual information available at the push of a button.
Gina Leaman — Nurse Manager for Perioperative Services
Laparoscopy is a less invasive surgery than open surgery and requires less recovery time. A laparoscope, a thin lighted tube that has a video camera, is inserted via a tiny incision to examine and treat the organs of the abdomen. Hernias, gall bladders, appendixes and bowels are the four most common surgeries performed in Yarmouth. Often five or six procedures are performed in each of the suites daily, but some surgeries, like bowel surgery could take a whole day, Gina says.
Laparoscopic technology is also used to give physicians a clear and detailed picture of a patient’s condition, to allow the physician to determine how that condition should be treated. For example, many of the scopes for hip and knee problems are done here, which frees up OR time in Kentville where the more complex surgery is done.
Besides the surgeon, each operation requires an assistant, an anesthetist and three OR nurses. YRH has four general surgeons, two gynaecologists, one ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist, one ophthalmologist, five visiting urologists two days a week and six visiting orthopaedic surgeons. They are assisted by 22 OR nurses, plus part-time and casual RNs.
