Monday 30 January 2017

Cardiac Staff Matters 30/01/17





1. Dr. Colette Seifer, who has been the Acting Medical Director for Cardiology for the past year, has now accepted that position on a permanent basis. Congratulations, Dr. Seifer!

2. Two cardiac intensivist/researchers in the CSP were recipients of the University of Manitoba, Department of Surgery Research Grant Awards for their projects. Dr. Rizwan Manji was awarded $15,000 for his project on The Immune Response in Aortic Stenosis and Dr. Rakesh Arora was granted $12,950 for his on Validation of the 4AT delirium screening tool in cardiac surgery patient population. Congratulations to both of you!

3. Five residents and trainees presented on behalf of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Manitoba, Department of Surgery Research Day:

- Kyla Barrie BSc Med: TELESCOPE-CS: ThE long tErm SuCcess Of Prolonged intEnsive care patients after Cardiac Surgery

- Dr. Ricky Muller Moran: Effect of operating room extubation on post-operative delirium after cardiac surgery

- Summer Dubriel BSc Med: Long-term outcomes of survivors undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in Manitoba between 2007 and 2016

- Dr. Weiang Yan: Long-term functional survival and re-hospitalization after surgical aortic and mitral valve replacements in a large provincial cardiac surgery centre

- Oksana Marushchak BSc Med: Analysis of short- and long-term outcomes of surgically treated left-sided infective endocarditis patients: A 10-year longitudinal follow-up study

Dr. Weiang Yan was awarded 2nd place and Oksana Marushchak was awarded 3rd place in the Plenary Podium Competition.

4. Dr. Rakesh Arora has been named co-chair of the newly created Advisory Board for the Cardiac Surgery Unit-Advanced Life Support (North America) organization. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons has recently (January 22) issued an Expert Consensus Paper for the Resuscitation of Patients Who Arrest After Cardiac Surgery.

5. Farewell to Jessica Fraser, Administrative Secretary at SBH, whose last day will be February 3rd. Jessica has worked with the Cardiac Sciences program for 10 years; her efficiency, knowledge and experience will be greatly missed. Good luck in your new position at the University of Manitoba, Jessica!

6. Congratulations to Dr. Rakesh Arora on his appointment as Section Head of the Section of Cardiac Surgery (Dept. of Surgery, University of Manitoba) and the Medical Director, Cardiac Surgery (Cardiac Sciences Program, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority)! Please join us in welcoming him to this role.

7. We wish a very happy retirement to Ed Stocki, Program Support Manager for Respiratory Therapy & Perfusion at SBH. He¡¦s worked with the Cardiac Sciences Program for the past 5 years, although his tenure at SBH has been almost 40 years! His last day will be tomorrow (January 31). Please join us in congratulating him and wishing him great times!

8. A paper by Dr. David Allen and co-authors B. Ma, K. Leung, M. Graham, N. Pannu, M. Trabousli, D. Goodhart, M. Knudtson & M. James, has been accepted for publication by the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. The paper, Risk Prediction Models for Contrast-Induced Acute Kidney Injury Accompanying Cardiac Catheterization; Systematic Review and Meta-analysis, is in press. Congratulations, Dr. Allen!

9. And yet another piece of news about Dr. Rakesh Arora¡Khe has accepted the position of Section Head, Cardiac Surgery and as such will lead the cardiac surgery group in matters clinical as well as academic.
Tuesday 17 January 2017

Cardiac Staff Matters 16/01/17





1. Bev Laurila, Program Director for Cardiac Sciences (among other programs) at Health Sciences Centre, has announced that she will be retiring as of January 27, 2017. Bev has worked in health care in the Winnipeg Region for over 40 years, and her vast knowledge and experience will certainly be missed. A tea will be held in her honour on January 27 from 2 – 4 pm in the Annie Bond Room in the Community Services Building (FE127) at HSC. Join us if you can!

2. Effective January 1st, Dr. Kunal Minhas and Dr. Allan Schaffer were named as medical leads for the Acute Cardiac Care Unit (ACCU) at SBH and the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) at HSC. Dr. Minhas is the Director and Dr. Schaffer the Associate Director. Join us in congratulating them on these new responsibilities!

3. SAVE THE DATE! ACS Network Heart Attack Day will be held on April 13, 2017 at the Sam Cohen Auditorium to launch the new provincial Acute Coronary Standards. More detailed information will be coming soon!

4. Lucy Cabel, Cardiology Technologist, will be retiring after 40+ years of service in the region, both at SBH and HSC. Her last day will be January 27th. Throughout Lucy’s long and distinguished career, she developed special expertise in Holter analyzing. Please stop by the Holter department at SBH to wish Lucy well in her retirement. Good luck, Lucy! Enjoy!

5. We’d like to welcome two new staff members on 5A at SBH. Erika Sandor (nurse) and Shanelle Nault (unit clerk) both started last week. Congratulations on these new positions, Erika & Shanelle, and best of luck as you continue your orientations!

6. "Don't find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain." — Henry Ford
Wednesday 4 January 2017

Cardiac Staff Matters 19/12/16

1. Dr. David Mymin was interviewed for an article that was published in the Winnipeg Free Press on December 5. Titled “Cholesterol Conundrum,” the article helped health information consumers understand some of the confusing information about diet, cholesterol and heart health. Click on the link to read the story.

2. A very warm “welcome back” to Kristina Patskan, who is a recent grad of the Cardiac Sonography Program at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario. Her first day of work in the Echo Department at SBH was Monday, December 12th. Kristina previously held a position as a Cardiology Technologist at SBH prior to focusing her education on sonography. Please help us welcome her back to the program!

3. We have 2 new RNs in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab at SBH: Welcome to both Courtney Maley (formerly from ICCS), and Will Devlin (from SOGH). We’re glad to have you with us and hope you settle in quickly to your new roles!

4. After working meticulously for the past three years with the Interventional Cardiology Research Group, Dolores Friesen is retiring. She has worked at St. Boniface General Hospital since her graduation from the St. Boniface School of Nursing in 1983. Dolores has worked in several areas including CVT, Medical ICU/CCU, Surgical ICU, PARR, Emergency, and Critical Care Float Pool. She has been a staff nurse as well as CRN in the SICU and CVT units and has been a research nurse since 2007, at first with Nephrology and then successfully transitioning into Interventional Cardiology. She has diligently developed the Interventional Cardiology Research Nurse role that has expanded rapidly and successfully over the last three years.
A tea in her honour will be held on Friday, December 23 from 1:30 – 3:30 in room CR3017. Dolores, we will greatly miss you and wish you good luck in your retirement as you spend more time with your beautiful grandchildren!

5. Jan Mawhinney, who has been picking up a lot of casual shifts in the Pacemaker & Defibrillator Clinic over the years since her “retirement,” has decided to move into true retirement from nursing. We will miss her, and wish her all the best!

6. A warm welcome is extended to Kiran Atwal, who has accepted the position of Interventional Cardiology Research Nurse at SBH, effective January 9, 2017. She brings experience in Cardiology, MSICU, and Interventional Cardiology. Kiran will be based in CR3123, phone number: 204-258-1322, pager number: 204-931-2385, and email address: katwal@sbgh.mb.ca. Please help us welcome her to her new role.

7. Update on leadership searches: There are three leadership positions within the Program currently in the process of being filled: Medical Director, Cardiology; Section Head, Cardiac Surgery; overall Medical Director, Cardiac Sciences Program. For all three positions preferred candidates have been selected, and for all three, contracts have been drafted and are being considered by the applicants. Formal announcements about all three are expected early in the new year.

8. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the Section of Cardiology and the Cardiology residents (especially Dr. Raj Sharma) for hosting a festive and funny Holiday Rounds on December 14 at SBH. In addition to receiving entertaining greetings from the various groups within Cardiology (who knew they had such wicked dance moves?), attendees were treated to some hilarious “doctored” video clips (like “The Godfather” aka Dr. John Ducas). There was a rousing game of Family Feud involving docs from the Cath Lab, Heart Failure, EP and Echo areas, hosted at first by Dr. Justin Cloutier and then by Dr. Mahwash Saeed. Team Echo ended up the overall winner and celebrated energetically! Thanks again for the laughs…and the pizza!