Department of Medicine Weekly Roundup - Thursday March 9
Please see below for the following updates:
- Physicians memo: Updates on masking requirement and flu season
- Reverting to pre-pandemic patient visitor policies across Unity Health
- Update on Executive Portfolio changes
- Changes to ONE Mail - March 15
- Invite: Cardiology for the Practitioner
Change to universal masking policy in off-site non-clinical buildings at Unity Health
Effective immediately, universal masking is no longer required in the following off-site, non-clinical areas at Unity Health:
- Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute
- 2 Queen St. East
- 193 Yonge St.
- 250 Yonge St.
This decision was made in alignment with other TAHSN hospitals and updated guidance from the Toronto Region Hospital Operations Table (TR-HOT), after careful consultation with our Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) and Workplace Health, Safety and Wellness teams. This change reflects current COVID-19 epidemiology and aims to achieve consistency with current public health requirements outside of high-risk settings.
Per the guidelines established by TR-HOT, universal masking is only optional in departments, services and research centres that are located in buildings where there is no patient care provided or that are not part of the main hospital buildings or other buildings that have mixed clinical and non-clinical areas. The four buildings listed above are the only departments at Unity Health that fit these criteria.
Masking continues to be mandatory in ALL other areas not listed above, including in our hospital buildings, Family Health Teams, Sunnyside Building at St. Joseph’s, off-site clinics that provide patient care and the Houses of Providence.
While universal masking is now optional in the LKSKI building, 2 Queen St. E, 193 Yonge St. and 250 Yonge St., masking is still recommended, especially when attending large gatherings. Clinical staff who visit the buildings listed above, whether for meetings, educational opportunities or other activities, should continue to mask to minimize the risk of transmitting illness to patients and colleagues who care for patients.
Effective immediately, physical distancing requirements have also been slightly adjusted. The Ministry of Labour continues to require physical distancing of 2 metres in all clinical areas and clinical staff break rooms and lounges but physical distancing can now be reduced to 1 metre in all other areas, including meeting rooms and cafeteria spaces.
These requirements apply only to activities and events at Unity Health. Staff, physicians and learners should follow public health requirements and recommendations when planning or attending off-site events, such as board meetings, foundation events or educational sessions outside of Unity Health.
If you have any questions, please connect with a member of our IPAC team via Switchboard/Locating.
Flu season is over: Changes to testing and IPAC precautions
Infection Prevention and Control can now announce that influenza season is over. The incidence of influenza has fallen to levels typically seen in the spring, and less than one per cent of influenza tests in Ontario are returning a positive result. The incidence of other respiratory viruses such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are also decreasing, with RSV positivity now well below five per cent.
Clinicians can now stop ordering testing for these respiratory viruses routinely. Selective testing for seasonal respiratory viruses (e.g. influenza, RSV) remains reasonable for patients being admitted to hospital with a typical influenza-like illness, particularly if COVID-19 has been excluded. The microbiology labs will continue to process these specimens when ordered.
Testing of asymptomatic patients for influenza, RSV or other seasonal respiratory viruses other than COVID-19 is not indicated. If there is a clinical indication to order influenza or RSV testing, please note this when ordering. If there is no symptomatic indication for testing provided with the order, the microbiology laboratory will not process specimens for influenza or RSV testing
Infection control precautions
Patients admitted with COVID-19 or flu symptoms require Droplet-Contact precautions with an N95 respirator until COVID-19 testing is confirmed to be negative. If COVID-19 negative, the patient can be switched to standard Droplet-Contact precautions with use of a medical mask. IPAC will remove precautions from COVID-19 negative patients once fever has resolved for more than 24 hours and symptoms are improving as long as there are no other indications for ongoing precautions like Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
As we return to pre-pandemic practices across the organization, we are reverting back to our pre-pandemic, site-specific patient visitor policies. The Essential Care Partner (ECP) guidelines posted on the COVID-19 microsite are no longer in effect. Instead staff, physicians and learners should refer to the site-specific policies outlined below:
Please note: The Providence Visiting Policy does not apply to the Houses of Providence. The Houses have a separate visitor policy.
All of these policies support the following key principles:
- Minimizing the number of visitors at the bedside at one time
- Visitors must not visit if they are unable to follow hand hygiene and infection prevention requirements
- Visitors must not visit if they are feeling unwell, have an infection, have symptoms of respiratory illness or flu-like illness or symptoms of other communicable diseases
- Visiting after hours may be permitted in certain circumstances at the discretion of the care team
Over the next year we will be working towards creating a harmonized Unity Health visitor policy.
If you have any questions about these policies, please contact Cathy O’Neill, Senior Director, Patient Experience and Community Engagement.
As announced in December, Anne Trafford, Executive Vice President of Organizational Performance and Chief Information Officer (CIO), will be retiring on July 7.
As a result, recruitment has begun for an Executive Vice President of Digital Transformation and CIO to align data science and advanced analytics, information technology and management practices and drive the digital and strategic advancement and integration of Unity Health.
Muhammad Mamdani, Vice President of Data Science and Advanced Analytics, will report to the Executive Vice President, Digital Transformation and CIO.
The following senior leaders will also report into this new portfolio:
- Frank Garcea, Executive Director, Information Technology
- Monica Jacobs, Senior Director Enterprise Risk, Emergency Preparedness, Privacy and Health Records
- Giuseppe Cammisa, Senior Director, Electronic Patient Record
The following portfolio changes will also take place:
- Kim Grootveld, Director of Quality Improvement and Operational Excellence, will report to Irfan Dhalla, Vice President of Care Experience and Equity, starting April 1.
- Laurie Jenkins, Senior Director of Access and Transitions, Clinical Programs, will report to Tom Parker, Executive Vice President of Clinical Programs and Chief Medical Officer, starting in July.
The Executive Vice President of Digital Transformation and CIO will also oversee the team leading the implementation of our network’s new Electronic Patient Record system. We look forward to sharing more information about this exciting transformational project in the time ahead. We will continue to share updates on the recruitment for our new executive leader as the process moves forward over the coming months.
Ontario Health is retiring ONE Mail as of March 31: Unity Health off boarding on March 15
Effective March 15, Unity Health will be off-boarded from ONE Mail – the E-Health Ontario solution that supports address book integration and secure email transfer between member organizations.
What does this mean for Unity Health?
As of March 15, Unity Health will introduce our own secure email transmission that operates through an enforced encryption. In advance of implementation, please note the following:
- All incoming and outgoing emails between Unity Health and external organizations will continue to be encrypted.
- The ONE Mail address book will continue to list mail recipients at Ontario institutions through ONE pages. Some organizations may drop from the program and no longer appear on the list. Unity Health email addresses will continue to be listed in the ONE pages address lists.
- Anti-spam and email virus protection will be conducted by Unity Health’s email security system.
- Unity Health will no longer need to submit troubleshooting requests to ONE Mail Partnered, allowing us to more carefully monitor mail flow and confirm receipt, as well as investigate cases of non-delivery.
- In the unlikely event that another organization’s email service doesn’t support encryption, staff and physicians will receive a bounce back message. Should this happen, please contact the respective organization to inquire about other means of communication.
In advance of this change, please refer to the Electronic Communications with Patients policy to remind yourselves of proper email communication involving personal health information.
If you have any questions about this change, please contact the Helpdesk at your site:
- St. Joseph’s: [email protected]or ext. 3805
- St. Michael’s: [email protected]or ext. 5751
- Providence: [email protected]or ext. 3000
The Division of Cardiology at St. Michael's Hospital, is pleased to extend an invitation to participate in a live webinar meeting for the 34th in the series entitled "Cardiology for the Practitioner" on Saturday, April 29, 2023.
This annual educational event has been very well-received by cardiovascular clinicians for more than 30 years, including primary care physicians, internists, cardiologists, and allied health care team members (e.g., nurses and pharmacists). Interactive components via polling, audio, and chat will allow for group discussion and for your questions to the faculty to be asked and answered live.
Please see the attached flyer for more information. REgistation is complimentary for St. Michael’s Hospital Staff. Please register with Cheryl Wattam, [email protected]