On Friday, January 17, neuroscience researchers from around the world, including a delegation from the world-renowned Pasteur Institute in Paris and the University of Bordeaux, will be at St. Joe’s West 5th Campus for St. Joe’s Clinical Neuroscience Symposium.
Tomorrow’s symposium will focus on cellular and immune system processes related to mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder. Researchers have been examining biological indicators – called biomarkers – to further understand the physiological processes of mood disorders.
Efforts to identify mood disorder biomarkers were bolstered by the creation of the Centre for Clinical Neuroscience at St. Joe’s in late 2018. This Centre includes a state-of-the-art laboratory housed at the West 5th Campus, offering researchers the ability to test clinical populations for biomarkers.
Learn more about the key speakers at www.neurosymposium.org.
Dr. Flavio Kapczinksi (middle) addressing a question from Dr. Tom Stewart (right).
The Franco-Canadian group met ahead of the Symposium at St. Joe’s new West 5th Campus wet lab.
Dr. Zena Samaan of St. Joe’s talking to Dr. Gerard Eberl of the Pasteur Institute.
Dr. Benicio Frey, talking with French colleagues in the West 5th Campus wet lab.
Dr. Gerard Eberl (left) and Dr. Pierre-Marie Lledo (right), scientists at the Pasteur Institute, touring St. Joe’s West 5th Campus wet lab.
You can look up the average length of time it will take to see a doctor or nurse practitioner in Hamilton’s Emergency Departments (ED) and Urgent Care Centres (UCC).
St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and Hamilton Health Sciences are now posting wait times at HamiltonEmergencyWaitTimes.ca.
The wait times are updated every 15 minutes and will also be posted on screens in ED and UCC waiting rooms.
“We’re pretty excited that we can offer this to patients,” says Dr. Greg Rutledge, Chief of Emergency Medicine, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. “Patients and families routinely ask how long it will take until they see a doctor. Now they’ll have a better sense of that with up to date information while they wait. It’s a good way to share that information to offer some comfort in a stressful time.”
Rutledge stresses that the wait time information is to help build understanding, and not to choose which location to go to for treatment. He says that should be based on their condition and how urgent the situation is. Patients needing emergency care should always call 9-1-1.
In addition to wait times, the website also includes information about the type of care is provided at an ED and UCC, as well as other healthcare options. This initiative is intended to build understanding, and not affect where individuals go for treatment.
“We want our patients to understand the range of healthcare options available to them, and to be able to prepare for their visit accordingly,” says Dr. Kuldeep Sidhu, Chief of Emergency Medicine at HHS. “Sharing wait times information supports a more informed, empowered patient journey.”
To see the emergency and urgent care wait times, go to HamiltonEmergencyWaitTimes.ca.
Wait times for the following Emergency Departments are available:
- St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton’s Charlton Campus Emergency Department
- Hamilton Health Sciences’ Juravinski Hospital Emergency Department
- Hamilton Health Sciences’ Hamilton General Hospital Emergency Department
- Hamilton Health Sciences’ McMaster Children’s Emergency Department
- Hamilton Health Sciences’ West Lincoln Memorial Hospital Emergency Department
Wait times for the following Urgent Care Centres are available:
- St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton’s King Campus Urgent Care Centre
- Hamilton Health Sciences’ West End Clinic Urgent Care Centre
This initiative delivers on direction from the Ontario Government to provide transparency and digital tools for patients.
Today St. Mary’s welcomes Lee Fairclough in her new role as President of St. Mary’s General Hospital. St. Mary’s thanks Interim President John Woods who has capably led the organization since July and will remain at St. Mary’s for several weeks to support Ms. Fairclough’s transition.
“I am eager to get to know staff, physicians and volunteers at St. Mary’s and look forward to leading an organization that is nationally recognized for quality, safety and compassionate patient care,” said Ms. Fairclough.
She recognized that the past six months have been extraordinary for St. Mary’s. Highlights include the roll out of a new Health Information System with Grand River Hospital, securing final approval for the construction of St. Mary’s Heart Rhythm program expansion and achieving accreditation with exemplary status from Accreditation Canada.
In addition to learning more about St. Mary’s over the first several months, Ms. Fairclough looks forward to collaborating with other healthcare organizations in Waterloo Region and area to achieve the best outcomes for patients. This will include being deeply involved in planning for an Ontario Health Team for the Kitchener area.
Ms. Fairclough said she particularly looks forward to working in the hospital again and being deeply immersed in the issues of how to best serve patients and families. She started her career as a radiation therapist delivering cancer care at Princess Margaret Hospital/University Health Network and went on to have a broad set of leadership experiences at the hospital and system level, provincially and nationally.
Since 2014 Ms. Fairclough worked as a Vice President at Health Quality Ontario, leading provincial efforts supporting quality improvement with teams across the health system. “It was inspiring to be exposed to many examples of how teams collaborated to understand quality of care and experience, and make improvements where needed. St. Mary’s has a strong reputation for this same commitment to quality and will continue to strive to be the safest and most effective hospital in Canada, characterized by innovation, compassion and respect.”
She said during her initial visits to St. Mary’s late in 2019 she felt the warmth and collegiality that is known as the St Mary’s way. “As I begin this journey I am grateful for the support of St. Mary’s amazing people, excellent Board of Trustees and Senior Leadership Team, and partners at St. Joseph’s Heath System, Grand River Hospital and the healthcare community in Waterloo Wellington and surrounding regions.”
St. Mary’s General Hospital is celebrating today after receiving final approval to begin construction of a $13 million redevelopment of its Heart Rhythm Program. The project will bring new electrophysiology and ablation services to St. Mary’s for patients with abnormal heart rhythms, reducing long wait and travel times.
Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, was at St. Mary’s to announce that Ontario is investing up to $7.4 million for the capital project. The remainder will be supported by $5.6 million in funds already invested by local donors. Construction will begin in the spring of 2020 and is expected to be complete by spring of 2021. The project includes:
- creating a new electrophysiology (EP) lab in operating room space currently shelled in
- building 3,500 square feet of new patient recovery space
- expanding cardiac diagnostic clinic space.
“Our comprehensive plan to end hallway health care includes building additional capacity for specialized services in communities like Kitchener-Waterloo,” said Elliott. “This project will enable the hospital to offer a full continuum of cardiac services and provide patients and families with better access to the quality care they expect and deserve closer to home.”
So far in 2019, St. Mary’s has referred more than 80 patients for EP services out of the region with most waiting up to 18 months or more for their procedure.
St. Mary’s Interim President John Woods said “we are thrilled to launch these important new services at St. Mary’s Regional Cardiac Care Centre, one of the top three cardiac centres in Canada. We are extremely grateful for the commitment by the Ontario government to complete our Heart Rhythm Program suite of services and thank our donors for investing in the equipment our clinicians will need. This is a great day for patients, our teams and our community.”
Elliott also announced that St. Mary’s will receive nearly $750,000 as part of Ontario’s Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund. These funds will be used for roof replacements and generator upgrades.
Click here to read more.
Residents of Guelph and area will be some of the first in Ontario to benefit from a new model of organizing and delivering health care that better connects patients and providers in their communities to improve patient outcomes.
On Nov. 29, the Honourable Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, announced the Guelph and Area Ontario Health Team (OHT) would be among the first 24 teams in the province. St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph is among the group of collaborators making up the new team.
“In the Guelph area, we are building on what we already do well – collaborating to meet the needs of patients. Together, we are able to achieve much more than we can separately. All of us are committed to strengthening our local health system and available services, improve client experiences and ultimately, make the community healthier.”
For more information on the Guelph and Area Health Team, please go to http://guelphandareaoht.com.