Issue 08 Spring 2019

Your hospital. Your giving. Your support.

ISSUE 08 SPRING 2019

Inspired Care

THE FUTURE IS

PLASTICS A Q&A WITH DR. GEOFF COOK

INSIDE THIS

SPECIAL EDITION: • Tuning in and Turning Up Radio-thon 2019

• Spring into Health Janie Goguen

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This clinic expansion will touch just about everyone in our community and beyond.

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• NBHC Setting New Pace Grateful Patient

- Dr. Geoff Cook

JEFF MCALOON

A special message from

Dear Friends,

G GIVE. GRATITUDE.

We are looking forward to a very busy 2019 as we continue The GIVE: Clinic 1 Expansion campaign, the most ambitious in the Foundation’s history. The title of this newsletter, Inspired Care, is apt because this campaign is inspired by the doctors, nurses and staff who work in that very clinic. With more than 40,000 patients visiting Clinic 1 every year, we most likely know someone who’s received specialized care there.

more. Get in touch if you have an idea for an event you’d like to organize.

I hope you are inspired by what you read in this update, and I encourage you to stay connected with us after you pass it along to a friend. If you would like to share a story with us, we would love to hear from you. We should all celebrate in the successes of patients, doctors, nurses, and staff across the province. Our contact details are on the back cover.

Thanks for your interest and your continued support, as we make amazing strides in advancing health care in the province.

While the care is top notch, the clinic is cramped and inadequate for the 33 specialties that help New Brunswickers every day. We want to give the health care providers and their patients the space they deserve. So we’ll more than double the square footage, allowing for state-of-the-art care.

With heartfelt thanks,

A spring and summer full of community events that support the Foundation are about to begin, and there’s always room on our calendar for

Jeff McAloon President and CEO Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation

I give because…

“I think that when you support the Give, you’re giving a gift to yourself, and maybe a loved one, or a friend. You can’t lose.”

Eight years ago, Starr and Bill Dashwood received some difficult news. Starr was diagnosed with breast cancer. Like thousands of New Brunswickers, it meant visits and treatments and thoughts of the worst.

“We really didn’t think she would make it to 50 years, our anniversary,” says Bill. And they decided it would be appropriate to start an endowment with the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation.

The Dashwoods Legacy Donors

“People need a reason to give, so we looked at it and said, ‘This is fitting’.”

They will be celebrating 50 years of marriage this year and celebrating a legacy of giving, inspired by the commitment they made to each other in 1969.

“The money stays in Saint John, it is for Saint Johners,” says Bill.

“Everybody takes advantage of what the Hospital Foundation provides.”

If you would like to learn more about legacy giving, please contact Stephanie Fox, Vice President at (506) 333-3952 or email Stephanie.Fox@HorizonNB.ca to schedule a confidential meeting.

G Give. Gratitude.

Dr. Geoff Cook is the Chief of Plastic Surgery at the Saint John Regional Hospital and one of the Physician Leads on the Clinic 1 Planning Committee. As the physician with the highest patient volume in Clinic 1, he also serves as a Physician Cabinet Member for The Give: Clinic 1 Expansion campaign, acting as an ambassador and advocate for the campaign in our hospital and community.

her hand without having to wait for an operating room and general anaesthesia aided in her speedy recovery.

What do you think is the most important message to share with donors about supporting The Give: Clinic 1 Expansion? How does their support make a difference?

Can you tell us a little bit about your role at the hospital?

Physician Testimonial

COMMUNITY FEATURE

MEET DR.GEOFF COOK, PLASTIC & RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGEON!

Plastic Surgery is one of the busiest specialties in Clinic 1, with our team caring for roughly 7,500 patients a year. I specialize in hand and wrist surgery and we treat a wide variety of patients with upper extremity problems such as trauma, cancer and arthritis. In the Ambulatory Clinic at the Saint John Regional Hospital we assess patients and often provide surgery that is performed under local anaesthesia with the patient wide awake. As well, we have a world-class team of hand therapists who provide teaching and rehabilitation services for our hand patients.

Why is this expansion so important to you and your team? And how will it help patients?

The expansion is important for two reasons. The first is a massive need for patient access. We see thousands of patients a year in one narrow hall with seven small rooms. We’re vastly overwhelmed by the volume of patients, and our physical space is in urgent need of an expansion.

The second reason is that the standards of care have changed since the Clinic was first built in 1982. Accessibility is a major problem in our current clinic. Patients with mobility issues have significant difficulties maneuvering down the narrow hallway and patients on stretchers cannot access the rooms at all. They need to be seen in another area or in the hallway. As well, there is a big problem with privacy and confidentiality in such a confined space.

This expansion will completely revolutionize Clinic 1, improving patient comfort, care and privacy, while bringing our Clinic into the 21st century.

Are there any patient stories that stand out in your mind?

Recently, I treated a young woman in Clinic 1 with a serious hand injury.

She is a professional basketball player and was home visiting her family.

She had an accident in the kitchen while preparing dinner and sliced the tendons and nerves in her shooting hand. This could have been potentially career-ending, but when she came to see me in Clinic 1, I was able to perform surgery, that same day, to repair the nerves and tendons in her hand.

I saw her father in the clinic today, for an unrelated matter and he told me that she just got back out on the court yesterday and she’s shooting three-pointers, better than ever before! I’m not sure I can take credit for her improved accuracy but the ability to perform immediate surgery on

Dr. Geoff Cook Chief of Plastic Surgery

I think the biggest thing for our community is to understand just how broad the scope of this project is. It’s not just people with hand and wrist problems that are going to be helped. Clinic 1 cares for over 40,000 people every year, with problems ranging from cancer to arthritis to diabetes to broken bones. In all likelihood, if you live in Saint John or even New Brunswick for that matter, you or someone you know will be cared for in one of our 33 specialty clinics at one time or another.

This clinic expansion will touch just about everyone in our community and beyond. It’s the busiest clinic, in the busiest hospital in New Brunswick and by supporting The Give: Clinic 1 Expansion you can help give the best care for all.

Visit WWW.THEGIVE.CA or call (506) 648-6400 to make a gift to

THE GIVE:

CLINIC 1 EXPANSION supporting your hospital and community.

RADIO-THON 2019

Tuning In and Turning Up the Support for The GIVE: Clinic 1 Expansion Radio is special. It’s about storytelling and personalities and music and information.

And although a radio-thon can happen anywhere, when it’s the Love Your Hospital Radio-thon, it’s important to have the right connection.

For seven years, Acadia Broadcasting has brought sister stations 97.3 The Wave and Country 94.1 and set up studio in our hospital each February. While it’s a day of fundraising, it is also a day of compelling and emotional stories, as patients and health care providers share their experiences over the airwaves.

Radio-thon 2019

COMMUNITY FEATURE

It’s about connection.

“I would like to say how proud Country 94 and 97.3 The Wave are to be able to work with such a great organization as the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation and all the staff that work there, they are an amazing team,” says Station Manager, David Boone.

That team effort encouraged a record in corporate and personal donations, $286,536! $100,000 of that was a matching donation from Canaport

LNG. It has been a generous contributor to many different organizations over its 10 years in Saint John, with a total of 4.1 million to charities and non-profits in our area!

“Looking at the number of people served by Clinic 1 and how this expansion will help create a better experience for its patients, the decision to support this campaign was an easy one,” says Javier Azagra, General Manager of Canaport LNG.

“We are once again overwhelmed, but not surprised, by the generosity of New Brunswickers,” said Foundation President and CEO Jeff McAloon. “We are so fortunate to have Acadia Broadcasting keep the “On-Air” light burning bright for us as a beacon of continued support.

And thank you to Canaport LNG for making this the most successful Radio-thon ever!”

The Radio-thon, this year, supports the expansion and renovation of the busiest clinic in the Saint John Regional Hospital, Clinic 1. The Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation is in the midst of a 12 million dollar campaign to complete the overhaul.

$100,000 Matching Gift Sponsor!

Canaport LNG helped make this the most successful Radio-thon yet!

The GIVE: Clinic 1 Expansion is much closer to the goal because of your generous support!

G Give. Gratitude.

NORMA MELANSON Moncton’s Norma Melanson has been on the frontline of health care for 52 years as a nurse and nursing teacher.

“I think it’s a reflection of teamwork,” says Dr. Toal. “It’s a reflection of the trust that our patients have, and administrators have in us. And we’re able to stand up and be able to provide all that.”

She’s seen it all, but it was recent heart troubles that brought her to Saint John to be a “first” for the New Brunswick Heart Centre and this province.

“I’ve never seen a team collaborate so closely, and the end result is that they want to promote the health and provide quality care to the patient.”

Norma started having issues last May. She was having fainting spells and felt weak and tired.

Norma Melanson

GRATEFUL PATIENT STORY

New Brunswick Heart Centre Setting New Pace

She was given 2 different pacemakers in Moncton over a number of months. Infections and complications continued to hinder her recovery.

In November, she was sent to Saint John. She had double pneumonia and endocarditis, an infection of the inner lining of heart chambers and heart valves.

That teamwork was evident to Norma.

Norma is doing well, with rehabilitation and post-op care.

“I think that there are crooked roads in life, and you can’t skip one step or another before going through, and it was a long journey.”

A journey that brought her to Saint John and a first in New Brunswick medicine.

“Two valves were completely destroyed,” says Norma.

That’s when Dr. Zlatko Pozeg stepped in.

“He’s the one that did the reconstruction of the valves,” says Norma. ”As an artist would have done.”

Norma’s troubles weren’t over. Surviving the surgery, she then slipped into a coma for 62 days. Family and physicians were not optimistic. But again, Norma pulled through.

“When I woke up I was expecting Christmas.”

That had long past. Instead, a different kind of gift.

Dr. Satish Toal was ready to give Norma a new pacemaker. And not like the old ones that brought so much trouble.

He says the new smaller pacemaker,”...takes away the need for the wires, takes away the need for the pockets. So for people who have infections or for people who have blockages… and you cannot access their heart, through the veins on the top, you can just go ahead and put this pacemaker right into the heart.”

It would be the first of its kind implanted at the New Brunswick Heart Centre.

Dr. Satish C. Toal NBHC Electrophysiologist

Please join us in advancing healthcare in New Brunswick and share your story with us!

G GIVE. GRATITUDE.

Visit us at

THEGIVE.CA

or call 506.648.6400

2019 SAINT JOHN CHINESE NEW YEAR GALA

2019 Saint John Chinese New Year Gala

COMMUNITY FEATURE

A Night of Celebration

Chinese New Year is a family reunion. And families from across Southern New Brunswick came together to celebrate and support our community with the Chinese New Year Gala in January.

8 is a lucky number in Chinese culture, associated with wealth and prosperity. Here’s to a very prosperous Year of the Pig, and a very big thank-you to the Saint John Chinese Cultural Association!

2019 SAINT JOHN

This is the first year the Gala’s proceeds were passed on to the Foundation, specifically The GIVE: Clinic 1 Expansion.

David Xu, President of the Saint John Chinese Cultural Association, says the idea to make the Gala a charitable event was a hit with members of the Chinese community and was an even bigger success than anticipated.

With support from corporate sponsors and a top-up from the Chinese Cultural Association, the total of $12,888 is significant in more ways than one.

G Give. Gratitude.

PREHABILITATION RESEARCH PROJECT The McCain Foundation - Linda McCain

Back bone connected to the shoulder bone. Shoulder bone connected to the neck bone…

The McCain Foundation

MAJOR DONOR

Dem Bones, James Weldon Johnson This song from more than 100 years ago gives us a rudimentary make-up of the human body (and a good option at a sing-along). As doctors have discovered since, every part of our body is connected to everything else, directly (back bone to shoulder bone) or indirectly (physical health to mental health).

“The McCain Foundation is committed to improving the lives and well-being of all New Brunswickers,” says Linda McCain, Chair of The McCain Foundation. “We are proud to partner with the Saint John Regional Hospital on this research initiative focusing on improving the outcomes for spinal surgery patients.”

One of the commitments of The McCain Foundation is to support “projects dedicated to nurturing innovation, pioneering new fields and spearheading new initiatives.”

Precisely what this spinal “prehab” project is all about.

It’s those less than obvious connections Saint John orthopaedic spine surgeons are now exploring, thanks to a new study and a generous donation from The McCain Foundation.

Dr. Manson says interest in the study is high among patients and is looking forward to more results in the weeks and months to come.

The idea is that many spine surgery patients would benefit from a cardiac “prehabilitation” program, where education, physiotherapy and physical activities BEFORE spinal surgery can significantly improve patient outcomes. They will be healthier going into the operation, should be healthier after the operation, and then, in turn, stay healthier longer.

“The prehab program has been going great,” says Dr. Neil Manson. “It’s a randomized trial which means some people are put into the prehab group and some are not. And so, the info we’re getting back is fantastic.”

Healthcare professionals such as nurses, physiotherapists, dietitians and pharmacists work with the doctors and the patient to get them to an improved level of health over a 12 - week period before surgery. Evaluation then takes place post-op to determine if this “prehabilitation” is effective.

“Ultimately, surgery is like marathon running,” says Dr. Manson. “And the fitter you are going into the marathon, the less it’s going to hurt, and the better you’re going to do.

So it makes sense.”

This study is happening because of $75,000 from The McCain Foundation.

Dr. Neil Manson Orthopaedic Surgeon

4 WAYS TO SPRING INTO GOOD HABITS

G Give. Gratitude.

Your habits might need a spring cleaning, too!

SET ATTAINABLE GOALS Goals should be set with a bit of flexibility in mind. Aiming to work on your goal 4 days out of 7 allows for unexpected engagements. A first goal should be something that would be easy for you – this allows you to build momentum and gain confidence to work on the next step.

AIM FOR GRADUAL CHANGES Your habits have most likely been ingrained in you for a long time, and they will not change overnight.

Of course, we are all impatient to see progress, but gradual change will enable you to have progress long term that will be easier to maintain.

STEP OUTSIDE OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE Finding exercise or recipes that you are excited about might need a bit of searching. Lacking motivation sometimes comes from feeling like we are in a rut and we have exhausted all our goto recipes and exercises. Instead, step out of your comfort zone and sign up for a rock climbing class or invest in a Tajine.

BE REFLECTIVE ABOUT OBSTACLES Always think about why past goals have failed or succeeded. This will allow you to set goals that work best for you. For example, maybe exercising at home would work best for you because you can do it in the comfort of your own surroundings – no travel necessary!

CUCUMBER BARLEY SALAD

Janie Goguen

Registered Dietitian

(Recipe adapted from Gimme Some Oven) Serves 4 -6

INGREDIENTS 1 English cucumber, diced 2 cups barley, cooked and chilled ½ cup green onion, sliced ½ cup crumbled feta cheese 1/3 cup julienned or roughly-chopped fresh basil leaves LEMONY ITALIAN VINAIGRETTE ¼ cup olive oil 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon lemon juice ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning Make the Lemony Italian Vinaigrette by whisking the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and spices together. Toss all salad ingredients together.

Drizzle the Lemony Italian Vinaigrette on top and mix well until combined. Serve immediately or save it for lunches.

PRIVACY POLICY - OUR COMMITMENT: The Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information of its members, donors, volunteers and all other stakeholders. We value the trust of those we deal with and of the public and recognize that maintaining this trust requires that we be transparent and accountable in how we treat the information that we acquire from you. For our full privacy policy please go to www.thegive.ca/governance.

400 University Avenue PO Box 2100, Saint John, NB E2L 4L2 TheGive.ca • 506.648.6400

Our Charitable Number: BN 119132363 RR0001

G Give. Gratitude.