the
FOUNDATION
report
In This Issue: MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT Page 2
PATIENTS CAN BREATHE EASY THANKS TO SUPPORT FROM DONORS LIKE YOU! Page 2
INSIDE STORY: REDEVELOPMENT UPDATE Page 3
SUPPORTING A NEW HOME FOR PROVIDENCE MANOR Page 4
Summer 2018
It takes a Community to Support our Smallest Patients When Sonali Joshi went into labour with her twin girls, she was just 29 weeks pregnant. “They were so early that we hadn’t even chosen names for them yet,” Sonali recalls. “We thought we had another 11 weeks.” Sonali’s twin girls, Maya and Shyla, were born by emergency C-section in Toronto. They weighed just over two pounds each. Each baby was surrounded by a care team of 10 caregivers to provide breathing support and medications to the girls. Because they were born so early, they needed to be transferred to a Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) – a special unit for newborns that require the highest level of care. Continued on page 5.
Message from our President We are so grateful to donors like you who made it possible for us to raise $9.5 million in 2017/2018. Throughout the past year, donations have helped fund research for lung cancer, melanoma and colorectal cancer. Donations have helped purchase defibrillators, ultrasound machines, blanket warmers, lifts, walkers and beds. And donations have helped support staff education to assist caregivers develop new skills to better care for patients across the region in areas of wound care,
dementia, orthopedics, mental health and emergency. We were pleased to see such a great response to our annual Donor Satisfaction Survey sent with the last issue of the Foundation Report. We have taken a close look at areas where we’ve received feedback. We will continue to keep you informed about the impact of your donations and ongoing redevelopment updates. Donors like you continue to be at the heart of everything we do. You make it possible to achieve amazing things throughout Kingston Health Sciences Centre and Providence Care organizations. Thank you for your continued support.
, Denise Cumming, UHKF President and CEO
Patients Can Breathe Easy Thanks to Support from Donors Like You! Every day, donors like you are making a difference at KHSC and PC. Thank you! Research – Donations from generous supporters like you are helping to fund new lung cancer research which is underway right here at KHSC. Dr. Harriett Feilotter is leading a research project that includes a pilot study to identify biomarkers in patients with lung cancer that could predict what type of response a patient might have to immunotherapy. Certain biomarkers could help provide caregivers with information about whether a patient might respond positively or negatively to a particular treatment. Hopefully, results of this research will help patients to receive the optimal treatments for lung cancer.
2 | SUMMER 2018
Your GenErosity Can Save Lives Contact Us Today
Education – Generous donors have also supported a new program in the Inpatient Pediatric Unit where the most fragile children from across the region receive care. Donations have supported a new Bedside Pediatric Warning System. This new program helps caregivers identify subtle shifts in the health status of children that will enable them to intervene more quickly. This exciting new program has been piloted in other areas and has been shown to help ensure better outcomes for young patients. Equipment – Patients can breathe easy at Providence Care thanks to new respiratory equipment purchased with support from donors like you. Patients being transferred from Kingston Health Sciences Centre and from the community into Providence Care Hospital may require equipment to help them breathe. This new equipment will enable patients to have the support they need so that they are able to move into rehabilitation activities more quickly from an acute care or community setting. 3 | SUMMER 2018
The Inside Story: Redevelopment Update Each year, approximately 400 infants are admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the KHSC’s KGH site for care. Many of these infants are from southeastern Ontario with approximately 10% of infants being admitted from outside the region. We are fortunate to have a NICU here in Kingston where families facing the stress of a critically ill newborn can receive care close to home. Kingston is one of five Ontario cities to offer the highest level of neonatal intensive care. However, our NICU facility is the oldest in the province and is slated to be rebuilt as part of the Redevelopment Project at KHSC. Currently, the NICU bassinets are located in two large rooms with no privacy separation between them. You can probably imagine how challenging this is for new parents who wish to remain with their ill newborn round the clock. The lack of space and amenities makes it difficult for parents to remain at the bedside for extended periods of time. Redevelopment of the NICU will include a unit that is 260% larger than the current space with private rooms for each baby, providing more amenities for parents to “room in” with their infant. Plans also include the addition of the most advanced technology in all aspects of care. A new family room will offer space for parents of fragile newborns to connect with and support each other. Continued on page 6.
WE WALK FOR PATIENT COMFORT AND CARE
GEARING UP FOR LIFE CYCLE – AUGUST 18
Join us, September 29, as We Walk in support of patient comfort and care at Kingston Health Sciences Centre and Providence Care.
We are gearing up for the second annual UHKF Life Cycle event with new family-friendly routes for all ages and abilities! Consider sponsoring a rider or coming out on August 18 to support KHSC and PC!
Visit uhkf.ca for more details.
It takes a Community to Support our Smallest Patients Continued from page 1.
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Today more than 86 per cent of Providence Manor’s residents have some form of dementia or cognitive impairment. A new home will provide residents with an improved living environment designed to meet their complex needs, while also implementing efficient and sustainable design.
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Cathy Szabo, President and CEO of Providence Care
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The Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus, which has more than 800 members in the Kingston region, presented a cheque for $30,000 to support the redevelopment of the Providence Manor long-term care home. This donation will bring the Knights of Columbus past the halfway point of their $50,000 commitment to the project. For more than 150 years, Providence Manor has provided a home for seniors in our community. The current 243 bed facility is aging and no longer meets the complex needs of
its residents. Providence Care is planning for an exciting future for Providence Manor by relocating and redeveloping . the long-term care home on the Heathfield property owned by the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul in Central Kingston. Providence Care has begun the design stage of this new project, and pending approval, details about the new long-term care facility will be released in the fall of 2018. We will tell you more about this exciting and vital project for our community this fall!
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Sonali’s care team phoned each Level 3 NICU in the surrounding area looking for a space for the girls – including Toronto, Hamilton and even one in Buffalo, New York. At one point, it was suggested that the twins might need to be separated to receive care in two different hospitals – a prospect that was terrifying for Sonali. How could she manage the logistics of being with both of her daughters in two separate hospitals? Sonali also had a three year old at home who needed her care. Fortunately, Kingston is home to a Level 3 NICU that had two beds available for the girls. Maya and Shyla were airlifted from Toronto to the KHSC Kingston General Hospital site arriving that night. Still in Toronto recovering from her C-section, Sonali was fearful about what was in store for her daughters. Despite being in recovery from major surgery,
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Sonali left the hospital just two days later – against the advice of her caregivers – and headed to Kingston, desperate to be with her daughters. “When I arrived, I just burst into tears,” she said. “I was so emotional about everything that had happened. But my girls were receiving the best possible care. The nurses were amazing and the doctors were phenomenal.” With the support of caregivers in the NICU, Sonali was included in the process of learning to care for her daughters over the next several weeks. “They want parents to be involved,” she said, “You’re not treated like an audience member.” Dr. Robert Connelly, Neonatologist and Department Head of Pediatrics at Kingston Health Sciences Centre supports this model of care by parent. “We know that our tiny patients and their families need an environment that better supports family involvement in care. We know that care-by-parent produces the best long-term health
outcomes for premature and critically ill newborns.” “At times it was hard not to be able to have our whole family together,” Sonali recalls. “And it can be a roller coaster during those first few weeks. We are so grateful that our care team included social workers who were so helpful and kind.” Maya and Shyla spent 32 days at the KGH site before being airlifted back to the Level 2 NICU in North York. After two months of care, the girls were strong enough to go home. Today, Sonali describes her daughters as healthy and smart. The family continues to support the NICU here in Kingston in gratitude for the care they received during those first scary weeks. Kingston’s NICU is one of only five in Ontario to offer the highest level of care. We are so fortunate to have this care available to families from across the region.
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When I arrived, I just burst into tears, I was so emotional about everything that had happened. But my girls were receiving the best possible care. The nurses were amazing and the doctors were phenomenal. Sonali Joshi
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the
FOUNDATION
report Summer 2018
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The Inside Story: Redevelopment Update Continued from page 3.
We have to create a care space that gives families the privacy, the physical supports and the crucial amenities that allow [the families] to be involved to the full extent they are able. Dr. Robert Connelly, Neonatologist and Department Head, Pediatrics, Kingston Health Sciences Centre
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Parents will also have access to a special “Care by Parent” room where they can receive guidance from the care team as they build the skills and confidence to look after their little one at home. Donors like you are helping us to move closer to the redevelopment of KHSC, a massive project that will include: the construction of a new eight-story tower to house the Emergency Department, operating suites, clinical laboratories, labour and delivery unit, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and data centre. Thank you for your continued generous support!
Go Behind-the-Scenes Join us for a free McCoy Passport to Healthcare tour at Kingston Health Sciences Centre and Providence Manor. Next one - September 13 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. - call us to register 613-544-4900 ext. 51110
uhkf.ca 55 Rideau Street, Suite 4 Kingston ON, K7K 2Z8 613.549.5452 uhkf.ca