As noted last week, some DOM members asked for suggestions of where to donate to support humanitarian/health aid in Israel and a link was suggested by Jeff Zaltzman that was included in last week’s newsletter.  Note that not all of the links in that website list were focused on humanitarian aid and individuals will need to do some filtering. Some department members asked for links where donations can be made for humanitarian aid for those in Gaza. Please find a list of websites proposed by Ahmed Bayoumi and Malika Sharma that focus solely on humanitarian aid.

Medical Aid for Palestinians is on the ground in Gaza where they are working to stock hospitals with essential drugs, disposables and other healthcare supplies. https://www.map.org.uk

Palestine Children's Relief Fund is a primary humanitarian organization in Palestine. They deliver crucial, life-saving medical relief and humanitarian aid on the ground. https://www.pcrf.net

The World Food Programme has been distributing fresh bread, canned food and ready-to-eat food to those who sought refuge in United Nations Relief and Works Agency shelters in Gaza. https://www.wfp.org

Doctors Without Borders is providing support to hospitals and health facilities in Gaza. https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org

UNRWA is providing medical support, trauma relief, and food assistance on the ground in Gaza. https://www.unrwausa.org

The Palestine Red Crescent is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements and is providing aid to Gaza. https://www.palestinercs.org/en

Please see below for the following updates:

• Announcement: New ID Division Head
• November 22^nd Grand Rounds with Melanie de Wit, UHT General Counsel - Documentation Practices
• Book the mobile flu clinic to get your flu vaccine: Updated schedule coming soon
• N95 mandatory mask fit testing at St. Michael’s
• LMS Project - Elevate Manager Training
• 2024 Temerty Faculty of Medicine Awards for Excellence in Postgraduate Medical Education

I am very pleased to announce that Dr. Linda Taggart is the successful candidate for the role of Head, Division of Infectious Diseases at SMH.  As Linda has been Interim Head since July 2022, she will transition into this role immediately. Congratulations, Linda!

--Sharon

On November 22nd, Melanie de Wit, UHT General Counsel, will present on Documentation Practices at Medical Grand Rounds. With the increased interest in MyChart, more patients are reviewing their records and sometimes this leads to questions and concerns around what is documented.  We anticipate more use of MyChart over time and with EPIC roll out.  As such, we thought it would be useful to invite Melanie to provide advice on optimal documentation practices for us. It can be challenging to consider how to frame discussions, diagnoses, as well as incorporate patient demographics in notes.

I invite you to submit questions and anonymised examples of challenging documentation issues that you encountered, which we can share with Melanie in advance. Please email them to me by November 8. She will use these to help us tackle these challenging issues.

Thanks!

Sharon

 

The flu vaccine is available for our staff, physicians and learners at Unity Health. Here’s a look at where our mobile flu vaccine clinics will be across our sites. An updated schedule will be sent out in an email to leaders shortly, and be posted in Twice a Week.

INFLUENZA VACCINE

St. Joseph’s and Providence:

• Monday, Oct. 23 to Sunday, Oct. 29 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• The mobile flu clinic will be roving throughout the organization based on a standard schedule. This will be shared with leaders via email and posted to the Workplace Health, Safety and Wellness (WHSW) page
• Leaders may call the mobile flu clinic same day to make a scheduling request. WHSW will accommodate scheduling requests from leaders to the best of their ability based on the number of requests received.

• Providence contact: 416-578-3071
• Joseph’s contact: 647-201-2461

St. Michael’s:

• Saturday, Oct. 28 to Friday, Nov. 10 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• For St. Michael’s only, leaders will be receiving an email from WHSW to submit their request for a preferred date and time for the mobile flu clinic to visit their offsite location. A designated room for set up will be required.
• Onsite, the mobile flu clinic will be roving throughout the organization. Onsite leaders will be included in the email invitation from WHSW and may request a preferred date and time for the mobile flu clinic to visit their unit. Leaders are asked to please submit requests by Tuesday, Oct. 24.
• Leaders may call the mobile flu clinic same day to make a scheduling request. WHSW will accommodate scheduling requests from leaders to the best of their ability based on the number of requests received.

• St Michael’s: 647-632-1873

COVID-19 VACCINE

• COVID-19 vaccines will continue to be offered within WHSW across all sites during regular business hours. Please see UnityNet for our location and hours of operation.

Please note:

• Mobile Influenza Vaccination Clinic is dependent on staffing. Dates and times may change. Please refer to Twice a Week daily for an updated schedule of locations/times.
• Reminder that Unity Health is dependent on Toronto Public Health for vaccines stock. Availability may fluctuate. Pharmacy and WHSW are working collaboratively and proactively to monitor and manage vaccine stock to ensure a continuous supply. To date, access to the high dose Influenza vaccine has been very limited.
• More information about Influenza and COVID-19 may be found on the Toronto Public Health website.

Thank you for cooperation. Please stay tuned to Twice a Week for updated schedule information.

Workplace Health, Safety and Wellness (WHSW) is coordinating its biennial N95 Respirator Fit Testing at St. Michael’s. This is in accordance with the applicable legislation, standards, guidelines and Unity Health Toronto Policy titled “Respiratory Protection Policy”. Fit Testing is mandatory for staff members who may be required to wear an N95 respirator when entering a room, performing diagnostic or laboratory testing, transporting or caring for a patient under airborne or airborne/contact precautions. An N95 respirator may also be worn for droplet or droplet/contact precautions or when it is determined by the health care provider during their point of care risk assessment. In the event a staff member does not complete testing during this initiative, they must be excluded from performing work requiring this level of respiratory protection under the types of isolation listed above. 

Who does require fit testing?

• Those who were fit tested prior to Jan. 1, 2023.
• This includes staff who were fit tested during the 1870+ conversion exercise. 

Who does not need fit testing?

• Those who were successfully completed the fit testing process from Jan. 1, 2023 to present. Those who have provided WHSW with proper documentation supporting a medical exemption.
• Those who have provided WHSW with proper documentation supporting a religious exemption.

In the event a staff member does not complete fit testing during this initiative, they must be excluded from performing work activities requiring the level of respiratory protection.

WHSW will accept fit testing documentation from another organization as long as testing was completed between January 1, 2023 to present and they have passed on one of the following 3M disposable respirator models:

1870+	8210	1860S
8110S	1860

If staff have met these criteria, please advise them to provide supporting documentation directly to WHSW in person, or by email at [email protected]. Fit testing commenced on Aug. 28, 2023 and will end on Dec. 15, 2023. Fit testing is taking place in WHSW located on 2 Bond, room 2-423. Variable testing times including weekend dates will be available during the 16-week period, and are outlined below. 

Fit Testing Hours of Operation:

Dates	Hours of Operation
Monday to Friday	7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Sat, Oct. 21	1 p.m. to 9 p.m. (closed from 5 to 6 p.m.)
Sat, Nov. 18	9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed from 12 to 1 p.m.)
Sat, Dec. 2	9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed from 12 to 1 p.m.)

No appointments are needed. Fit testing take between 15 and 20 minutes, and staff may be away from their department for 15 to 30 minutes. Final walk-in appointments must arrive at least 20 minutes prior to closing. Upon completion of their fit test, staff will be given a card as their record. Managers will be able to track staff compliance through the Learning Centre. The data is updated every two weeks.

To access your team’s compliance report for N95 Mask Fit testing, complete the following steps:

1. Login to the Learning Centre.
2. Under the My Team tab in the purple navigation bar, select Compliance Summary.
3. Find the course called Disposable N95, and click the name of the course (to the left of the orange/green bar).
4. You will see a list of all of the staff that report to you that are required to be fit tested, as well as their compliance status. You can download this report as an Excel sheet by clicking Export to Excel.
5. If you would like to see an individual’s mask size, go back to your My Team tab and select Mask Fit Sizes.

You can also go directly to access your report. If you require assistance or have any questions or concerns about the fit testing program, please contact Ravi Hookoom, Manager Safety & Wellness. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to health and safety in the workplace.

 

The Digital Education program is happy to announce that in November 2023, the Learning Centre will be replaced with Elevate, our new learning place for Unity Health Toronto.

Training sessions for managers (people leaders), will begin in early November and will run until mid-December. Each session will be an hour in length, and will be conducted virtually via Zoom. In order to register for a training session which accommodates your schedule, please follow the link below.

Elevate Manager Training

To ensure that all users at Unity Health feel comfortable operating the new system, the Elevate project team will offer virtual drop-in sessions for all users, after the system goes live. Additionally educational tools and resources will be shared for staff, physicians, educators, administrators and leaders. Please follow the link below to register for a virtual drop in Q&A session if needed.

Elevate Drop in Q&A Session

Please note that training for educators will be conducted separately, and a similar communication will be distributed today - attached is the schedule of all Elevate training sessions.    

Please reach out if you have any questions or visit the ELEVATE information page on UnityNet.

Warm Regards,

Nazanin

Nazanin Khodadoust (she/her) │ Director, Technology Enabled Education

The Temerty Faculty of Medicine Awards for Excellence in Postgraduate Medical Education serve to recognize outstanding contributions of faculty members who teach medical residents and fellows, develop, organize and administer training programs, develop innovative approaches to teaching, research, and evaluation, or serve as mentors and advocates to postgraduate medical trainees. 

Up to four $1,000 awards may be presented annually, and each winner will receive a certificate with the financial prize. In the event of a tie, prize money will be shared equally amongst tied winners. 

Winners will be notified by the end of March and will be recognized at the Temerty Faculty’s Annual Educational Achievement Day in May. 

Application may be made to two categories of awards:

1. Development/Innovation in Postgraduate Education

(e.g. leadership and organization skills; course/curriculum development, evaluation tools; develop new instructional methods/modules; restructuring of teaching/evaluation component, workshops, CanMEDS roles)

 

2. Teaching Performance/Mentorship/Advocacy

(e.g. acknowledgement of continuous or long-term excellence in instruction, career counseling, promotion of collegiality, role model, service as Program Director)

Application/nomination guidelines and the checklist are attached. If you have any questions please contact Arlene McKinley at [email protected]. Submission deadline is Friday, January 12, 2024.

I encourage you to participate in this nomination process to ensure that our faculty members are recognized for their innovations and commitment to postgraduate medical education.

Sincerely,

 

MEREDITH GIULIANI (She/Her/Hers) MBBS, MEd, PhD, FRCPC, DRCPSC                                                         

Associate Dean, Postgraduate Medical Education

Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology