BRHC Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Temporary Relocation
BRHC Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Temporary Relocation
As part of the Brandon Regional Health Centre (BRHC) expansion project, pile driving of posts into the ground close to the north wall of BRHC will start to take place. This will require the relocation of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which is expected to occur near the end of the week of February 6th and continue into the following week(s).
Due to noise and vibration during pile driving close to the hospital wall, NICU babies and their moms will be moved to 200 Surgery (2nd floor) after delivery. Visitation in the NICU may also be limited to one person per baby due to space. If the NICU is at capacity, you and your baby may be transferred to Winnipeg.
In addition, some maternity patients and their babies may also be transferred to 200 surgery after delivery. Patients moved may have to share a room with other moms, and the space may not accommodate a support person overnight.
This part of the construction phase is expected to be completed the second week of March but is subject to change.
Please continue to check our website or follow us on social media for updates.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding during the construction phase.
Western Manitoba Cancer Centre Expansion Project Scheduled to Begin Will Require Parking Changes
Western Manitoba Cancer Centre Expansion Project Scheduled to Begin Will Require Parking Changes
The expansion and renovation of the Western Manitoba Cancer Centre (WMCC) will soon be underway. This project will see a 7,000 square feet addition and renovation of existing space, including exam rooms, treatment spaces, and the Centre of Hope being constructed on the east side of WMCC.
Construction fencing will start going up February 21st, blocking off WMCC’s parking lot. Six-hour parking meters and accessible parking spots have been relocated close to the facility along Frederick Street and the Nurse’s Residence to accommodate this change. There are also 2-hour parking meters along Park Street east of WMCC. We ask patients to allow enough time to park for their appointment.
The front entrance drive-through will remain open for drop-off and pick-up only. Please do not park there for any extended period of time. The front entrance will also be used for patients coming to WMCC by ambulance.
Continue to check our website or follow us on social media for updates and possible changes.
BRHC MAIN ENTRANCE TEMPORARY CLOSURE Saturday, February 25
BRHC MAIN ENTRANCE TEMPORARY CLOSURE Saturday, February 25
Brandon Regional Health Centre (BRHC) expansion project continues with the foundation work of the new building located on the north side of BRHC.
Pile driving of posts into the ground close to the BRHC front entrance is scheduled for Saturday, February 25. This will require the main entrance into BRHC and the traffic loop to be closed on this day from 7 am until 6 pm.
February 25, the main BRHC entrance will be closed. Please note the following changes:
Dialysis patients brought by a Handivan or Medical Transport van will use the laneway entrance off Frederick Street.
Outpatients/Diagnostic Imaging Patients and Patients being discharged: The Emergency Department (ER) ramp can be used for drop off and pick up. Please use the staff doors, NOT the ER doors to enter BRHC. This ramp is not to be used for any extended period of time.
General Visitors will enter through the Centre for Adult Psychiatry (CAP) entrance off Russell Street and follow the signage to the main lobby and information desk.
Please refer to the map and watch for signage. Information is subject to change.
The Health Information Services (HIS) team includes Health Information Management Professionals, Medical Transcriptionists and Clerical staff who work in health centres throughout Prairie Mountain Health. This team is about managing healthcare data; collecting, storing, managing and transmitting a patient’s electronic medical records (EMR) in a professional, caring, and confidential manner.
Clerical Staff (Clerk III)
Clerk IIIs work in various areas within the HIS program, such as patient registration, switchboard and the records processing unit. The Clerk III Health Information staff are responsible for accurate and timely registration and processing of the admission/discharge/transfer (ADT) system while following the Provincial and Regional Registration Guidelines and practices. In addition, they process records, including secure storage, maintain the confidentiality of health information, and ensure all records are complete and accurate. This position also supports communication within and outside the facility. The switchboard is the communication hub of the facilities. In this area, they receive patient inquiries, page/communicate with health care providers, and operate the call centre for all Emergency codes within the facilities.
Education Requirements: Clerical staff in HIS are required to have a certificate in Medical Terminology. The Canadian Red Cross and Red River College offer Medical Terminology certificate programs.
Medical Transcriptionists
Medical Transcription changes voice-recorded reports into written texts that become a part of the permanent health record. Physicians and other health care providers dictate information gathered during patient encounters, and medical transcriptionists listen to the recording and transcribe it. These medical reports include clinical findings and therapeutic procedures in the health record and transmission to physicians and other healthcare facilities.
Health Information Management Professionals (HIMP)
Health Information Management Professionals provide services in all aspects of health records management. This includes data collection, disclosure, retention and the proper disposal of health information. The HIMP codes and summarizes all inpatient and same-day care health records accurately and efficiently. This is done by following the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) Standards and utilizing the appropriate Coding Classification System. This health data is transformed into information that can be analyzed and used to help in healthcare delivery, patient safety, and decision-making.
All of the functions within HIS are tied together with our Administrative Assistants and our Management team. The Health Information Services portfolio offers plenty of room for growth and career advancement and is currently recruiting for positions within our team!
The winter months are the perfect time to enjoy citrus fruits. These brightly colored fruits are in season bursting with flavor and add can add a little bit of “sunshine” into those often grey cold winter days!
Eating seasonal fruits has many benefits. It is an affordable and delicious way to add variety to your eating. By choosing fruits in season, there is a greater likelihood that they have had the chance to naturally ripen in the sun, will be fresher, taste better and have the highest amount of nutrition, antioxidants and phytonutrients.
Citrus fruits are a good source of fibre with many health benefits. Citrus fruits are known for being rich in vitamin C, which help you to absorb iron, helping to beat winter fatigue. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant which helps to protect the body from damage and helps support your immune system, maintaining healthy skin, bones and blood vessels.
Here are a few different ways to add citrus this winter:
Squirt some lemon or lime juice in your water for a burst of flavor
Top your favourite hot cereal or yogurt with slices of oranges or mandarins
Add slices of grapefruit or oranges to salads or wraps
PMH organizes health care students tour as part of recruitment activities
PMH organizes health care students tour as part of recruitment activities
If Willie Nelson’s “On the road again” wasn’t blaring, it should have been! Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) hosted a rural bus tour for health-care students January 21-22 and the weekend initiative drew great reviews. PMH Recruitment Supervisor Larissa Kominko says nine students took advantage of the opportunity to visit several communities and facilities in the health region and came away with a better appreciation of the numerous advantages of working and living in rural Manitoba.
“Spending time and making connections with the students was so rewarding,” Kominko said. “Being able to showcase the amazing lifestyle of rural Manitoba, the hospitality of small towns and all the programs and services that our local hospitals and personal care homes have to offer was amazing. I think it is fair to say that all involved made a very good impression, as students were extremely overwhelmed and excited about all they saw and heard over the two days.“
This year, health-care students from both the University of Manitoba and Brandon University were part of the two-day tour, with site visits to Dauphin Regional Health Centre, St. Paul’s PCH, Grandview Health Centre, Roblin Health Centre/PCH, and Russell Health Centre. During the road trip, information was also shared about communities the bus travelled through, which included Gilbert Plains, Neepawa, Minnedosa, Shoal Lake and Rossburn.
Planned activities at Asessippi Ski Resort (between Roblin and Russell), and Northgate Trails, located in Riding Mountain National Park, provided participants with a chance to get some exercise and have some fun!
Some comments from participants included:
“Thanks for the opportunity to explore rural communities and future potential careers. I didn’t realize it, but I really needed to get outside of the city.”
“I genuinely had an amazing time this weekend. Thank you so much!”
“Thanks to everyone who organized the trip. It was a really great experience seeing all of the communities. I definitely have a lot to think about!”
Kominko says the tour built upon a similar initiative that was organized in 2019, before the COVID pandemic surfaced. She adds, the region is always evaluating and improving upon the various strategies it undertakes in regards to recruitment and retention initiatives. She stated plans are already in the works to hold a smiliar event in another part of the geographically large health region.
Medical students in Brandon part of rural interest group
Medical students gather in Brandon as part of rural interest group
In partnership with the Manitoba Health Care Providers Network (MHCPN) and Max Rady College of Medicine, Faculty of Sciences, Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) hosted the University of Manitoba medical student Rural Interest Group in Brandon on January 27-28, 2023. The Rural Interest Group (RIG) weekend highlighted the benefits of practicing medicine in rural communities and available lifestyle opportunities. Some 34 first and second-year medical students took part.
PMH continues to be a strong advocate for the initiative as it provides the health region with additional opportunities to engage medical students early in their training. Clinical workstations were set up at Brandon Regional Health Centre that allowed students to put their skills to the test by undertaking tasks like suturing, casting and airway management.
Student RIG Co-President Sydney McLaughlin says after a brief event pause, due to the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, all of the students learned a lot and had great fun at the same time.
“The weekend went really well and I am really happy with how things went!” McLaughlin stated. “On behalf of both the Rural Interest Group and the University of Manitoba Medical Classes of 2025 and 2026, I would like to extend a huge thank you to PMH for welcoming us back this year. These events are so important for our education as they expose students to what it is like to work in rural medicine, provide opportunities for students to network with doctors and residents, and give us an idea of what it is like to work within the health region.”
Both MHCPN and PMH sincerely appreciate the support of regional physicians, staff and volunteers who help make the RIG weekend a success.
Sydney McLaughlin, Student RIG Co-President
Medical Students participate in a clinical casting workshop
Medical students have some down time to try out their painting skills.
Did you know? Eating Disorders have the highest overall mortality rate of any mental illness in Canada. While eating disorders are serious mental health conditions, they are also treatable. Unfortunately, research indicates that the majority of people with eating disorders don’t seek treatment, or when they do there are lengthy delays in receiving treatment. Many factors influence the development of an eating disorder including biological factors like genetics, psychological factors like mental health, and social factors like cultural attitudes around food and appearance. Those that struggle with their identity and self-image, dieting and weight loss, body dissatisfaction, experience weight stigma, as well as those who have experienced trauma are at risk. Eating disorders don’t discriminate, they affect people from all ages, genders, racial and ethnic identities, sexual orientations, socioeconomic backgrounds, and body sizes. Contrary to the public and even medical assumptions, eating disorders do not have a certain look to them. People living in large bodies can be affected by anorexia nervosa, just like people living in smaller bodies can be affected by binge eating disorder.
Here are some ways to counteract the negative social messages around food and bodies:
Help others (and yourself) develop self-esteem based on qualities other than physical appearance: Comment on and affirm characteristics that are not related to the body, but rather skills, talents, personality traits, passions, achievements, etc.
Get rid of your diet and your scale: Learn to understand your body and listen to its cues. Your weight is not a measurement of your health or self-worth. Learn about the Health at Every Size® philosophy.
Avoid labeling food as good or bad: Labeling food as good or bad ties morality to food. Food is morally neutral, as is body size. When food is tied to morality it can lead to feelings of guilt and shame around food leading to disordered eating like restricting, bingeing, and hiding eating behaviours.
Stand up against size or body-based bullying: Do not encourage or laugh at jokes that make fun of anyone’s body or size (including your own). A person’s worth and morality are not related to how they look. Celebrate body diversity.
Criticize the culture that promotes unhealthy body image, not yourself: Look at how encouraging people to dislike their bodies helps to sell products. Encourage people to question, evaluate and respond to the messages that promote unhealthy body image and low self-esteem.
Do you spend most of your day thinking about food and your body?
Do you avoid meals, restrict certain foods, binge eat, or purge after eating?
Do you feel guilty or out of control when eating?
Do you think that life will only be good if an ideal weight is achieved?
If you answer yes to any combination of these thoughts and behaviors, you may have an eating disorder. There are programs in Manitoba which can help you wherever you are on the journey to recovery.
It’s World Cancer day on February 4th. This event aims to save millions of preventable deaths yearly by raising awareness about the disease. This year the World Cancer Day’s agenda is to ‘Close the Care Gap’ and promote equitable care for everyone. The Prairie Mountain Health Navigation Services Team is here to support patients and health care providers, from the time of clinical suspicion of cancer and through the diagnostic period to treatments. We help anyone recently diagnosed with cancer, to understand their diagnosis, care plan, and assist through the cancer journey with resources and other helpful supports. Please help us ‘Close the Care Gap’, by connecting with us in Navigation Services.
Prairie Mountain Health Navigation Services Team Front row: Tanis – Navigation Clerk, Katy – Nurse Navigator, Michelle – Registered Dietitian Second row: Audrey – Nurse Navigator, Jannelle – Oncology Social Worker Third row: Joyce – Community Engagement Liaison, Kelsey – Nurse Navigator Back: Angela – Oncology Social Worker
“No person with cancer should have to spend more time fighting their way through the cancer care system than fighting their disease”.
H. Freeman, MD
Community Engagement Liaison, Joyce Gibson
Community Engagement Liaison
In the Prairie Mountain Health Region (PMH), there are several Community Cancer programs (CCPS) offering cancer treatments and services. One of the services offered is that of the Community Engagement Liaison. Joyce Gibson fills this role within the PMH region. Joyce focuses on serving the Under-Served Population Program (UPP), First Nations, Metis, Inuit, Seniors, LGBTQ, Immigration Services and low-income residents. The Community Engagement Liaison works with communities providing support and information regarding cancer prevention and the importance of early detection and cancer screening.
These services are provided free of charge. You can contact Joyce about attending your Health Fair, Clinic, Community Event etc.
For more information, please contact Joyce Gibson at 204-638-2198 or [email protected].
This Donation Page is populated by submissions from our staff, the public, local Auxiliaries and Foundations. If a donation has been made to your local facility please send a photo and a brief write up to the Communications Department. We would like the opportunity to share it with the rest of our staff and the public. Please email your submissions to [email protected].
HERO Club Receives Donation
HERO Club Donation
The Dauphin HERO Club received a boost from Fusion Credit Union to the tune of $1,000 through Fusion’s ‘Full Circle Fund’. The fund assists communities served by the Credit Union and the contribution will go towards construction of a new shed for the HERO Club’s well-recognized Hot Dog Cart. From front (l-r) are: Francis Jackson, Lori Bogoslowski, HERO Club Activity Instructor, Kelly Marceniuk and Dauphin Fusion Credit Union representatives Amber Fedirchuk and Kelli Zeiler. From back (l-r), and representing Prairie Mountain Health, are Anish Arapurathu Rajasekharan Pillai, Mental Health Proctor and Shantelle Rank, Registered Psychiatric Nurse. Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) provides coordination and other assistance to the HERO Club through its mental health program. Dauphin is one of four HERO Club sites within the health region. Roblin, Russell and Swan River are the others.
U18 AAA Parkland Rangers donates to cancer units within PMH
Members of the U18 AAA Parkland Rangers were on hand in three local communities January 12 to present proceeds from their ‘Hockey Fights Cancer Night’, which was held back on Oct. 25, 2022 when the team played host to the U18 Brandon Wheat Kings. The annual recognition night raised a total of $3,600 dollars, with a split of $1,200 each presented to three Community Cancer Programs within the Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) region. Chemotherapy Units in Dauphin, Russell and Swan River were grateful to receive the contributions, which were primarily raised through game night donations, door prizes and a raffle draw.
Prairie Mountain Health and CancerCare Manitoba sincerely appreciate the generous donations. (With pictures and files from Russell Banner and Swan Valley Star and Times.)
DAUPHIN Pictured from l-r) Chase Glover, Linden Smigelsky, Sam Swanton, Shelley Tokarchuk, DRHC Cancer Care Community Program, Madden Murray, Terrie Strong, DRHC CCCP, Kyler Swanton, Ryan Gower and Skyler Carriere.
SWAN RIVER Pictured (l-r) Tavyn Boychuk, Jackson Badwoski and PMH Registered Nurses Kristie Poole and Kelly Burick, along with Bo Eisner and Andrew Pidskalny.
RUSSELL Pictured from (l-r) Lisa Derkach, Community Cancer Program nurse, Hayden Seib, Dru Mushumanski, Dr. Wickus Pieterse and Abbey Vorlicek, Care Team Manager for Russell Health Centre.
Donation to Russell Health Centre
Darryl Fuz General Manager of the Paterson Grain Terminal in Binscarth presented a cheque for 10,000.00 to Care Team Manager Abbey Vorelick. The donation is from The Paterson Family Foundation. The funds are to be utilized for the 2023 year towards emergency care and services provided by the Russell Health Centre. Darryl stated that they chose to donate to the Russell Health Centre because of all the great work that is done. This is the fourth year in a row that Paterson Family Foundation has donated $10,000.00. This donation will be used to purchase a Glide Scope, the donation for the 2022 year from Paterson Family Foundation was used to purchase new treatment chairs.
All donations made to the Russell Health Centre are used to enhance the services, care and comfort of the patients and clients that access the Health Centre.
