Tuesday 16 August 2016

Cardiac Staff Matters 15/08/16






1. Welcome to Dr. Michael Yamashita, a cardiac surgeon who will be starting with us today. Dr. Yamashita trained at McGill University and UBC and he has completed fellowships in Chicago and at the Cleveland Clinic. His training has focused on aortic surgery, valve repair/replacement and VAD/transplant. Dr. Yamashita’s office will be located at Y3519. Please help give him a warm welcome to Friendly Manitoba!

2. Please also welcome Dr. Mahwash Saeed who will be joining the Section of Cardiology as an associate member in August 2016. Dr. Saeed is a graduate of the University of Manitoba and has recently completed a fellowship in Cardiology here. Dr. Saeed’s office and outpatient clinic will be located at Victoria General Hospital where she will also join the cardiology consult service; at St. Boniface Hospital she will be attending on the cardiology ward and providing consult services.

3. Dr. Zlatko Pozeg and the TEVAR team were highlighted in the July/August 2016 edition of the WRHA’s WAVE magazine, for successfully performing a TEVAR (thoracic endovascular aortic repair) on a patient with a dissection of the ascending aorta. This procedure has been performed numerous times on patients with descending aortic dissections, but this was only the second case in the world in which a patient with an ascending aortic dissection was successfully treated with TEVAR. Read more about this by clicking this link.

4. We bid farewell to Cheryl Swanson, who completed her term position as Program Team Manager for 5A Cardiology at SBH last week. Cheryl led the staff of the unit through a time of considerable change and did so with skill and grace. Although we would have really liked you to stay, Cheryl, we certainly wish you well as you return to your position in the Emergency Department!

5. Congratulations to Dr. Davinder Jassal, who has been named Head of the Section of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Jassal has received a number of research and educational awards, and in addition to his clinical and
research activities, he has served as the postgraduate medical education Program Director for Cardiology. Dr. Jassal is superbly suited to this role, which he will assume on September 6.

6. The Canadian Cardiovascular Critical Care Society, in conjunction with the Montreal Heart Institute, is pleased to announce its first annual ECMO Day Workshop, to be held in Montreal on October 21, 2016. The workshop will facilitate multidisciplinary discussions between Perfusionists, Nurses, Anaesthesiologists, Cardiovascular Surgeons, Intensivists, Emergency Physicians, and Cardiologists involved in ECMO to exchange ideas on state-of-the-art use of ECMO and collaborate on protocol development and data acquisition in Canada. See attached notice for details and registration information.

7. Join us as we bid farewell to Dr. Harry Lapierre, cardiac surgeon, who will have completed a one year locum with the program as of August 31. Dr. Lapierre’s contributions over the past year have been greatly appreciated and we wish him the best of luck in the future!

8. Karen Throndson, Clinical Nurse Specialist at HSC, is involved in a fascinating study looking at the issue of heart health in First Nations People. The study, titled Debwewin: The Truth of our Hearts, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Institute of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health) will incorporate a “two-eyed seeing” research model to try to better understand coronary artery disease severity and complexity, long term health outcomes, and experiences from the perspective of First Nation patients, family members, and Elders. See the attachment to read more about this study.

9. Let’s extend a warm welcome to Dan Quinn, who has accepted the position of Program Team manager for 5A Cardiology/Post-Procedure Beds. Dan, who has relocated to Winnipeg from Montreal, has a rich background in cardiac care, having been in both clinical and research roles. He will join the team August 19th. Welcome, Dan, we look forward to working with you!


NOTE:
Cardiac Staff Matters will not be published on August 29. Regular bi-weekly publication will resume September 12, 2016.
Tuesday 2 August 2016

Cardiac Staff Matters 01/08/16

1. Congratulations to Estrellita Estrella-Holder on achieving certification for heart failure nursing from the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses. This certification recognizes Estrellita’s specialized knowledge in heart failure care and her commitment to providing optimal patient care. Well done!

2. Welcome to Leanne Hutch, who has joined the ranks of the Cardiology technologists at SBH, in a 0.7 EFT term position. Glad to have you aboard, Leanne!

3. Congratulations to Charlotte Morrisseau, who will be taking on a permanent position as Administrative Secretary, replacing Barb Pambrun, who retired. Charlotte will provide support to Dr. Arora, Dr. Singal and Dr. Manji and will start her new role on August 15.

4. Drs. Joel Scott-Herridge and William McIntyre are winners in the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress “Featured Research” category. Their project, titled “Predictors of Guideline Appropriate Anticoagulation in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Discharged from the Emergency Department,” will be presented at the 2016 CCC in Montreal in October. Co-authors include Dr. G. Drobot, Dr. R. Steigerwald and Dr. C.M. Seifer. As well, they have been invited to submit the paper on a fast-track for potential publication in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. Congratulations to all!

5. A very warm welcome is extended to two new cardiologists joining the ranks of our cardiology group this month! Neither of them is a stranger to Manitoba, as they both attended medical school here. Dr. David Allen will be working in the areas of general and interventional cardiology. And Dr. Rob Singh will be working with the heart failure group and in cardiac rehabilitation. Glad to have both of you back in Friendly Manitoba!

6. Inspiration Corner:
"Many of us are more capable than some of us . . . but none of us is as capable as all of us!!" --Tom Wilson