People First in action: congrats to Vancouver’s award recipients
Dr. Liz Bryce and the Infection Prevention & Control Team: outstanding service during outbreak season
When norovirus hit the VGH campus, this team pulled out all the stops to prevent the spread of illness.
Before you could say “Happy New Year,” our Infection Prevention and Control Team were hard at work to prevent the spread of norovirus on the VGH campus.
Mere hours into 2013 and it was clear this was shaping up to be a worse than average year for this highly infectious acute gastroenteritis affecting staff and patients. For a busy facility like VGH, where timely access to beds is critical, the situation required extraordinary efforts.
This skilled group of professionals, including infection control practitioners, operational leaders from Acute and Community, security personnel and Aramark staff, attended the VGH Emergency Operations Centre daily — including weekends — to continuously revise their action plans.
The group’s impact could be seen everywhere, including expedited test results, hand hygiene stations, enhanced hand hygiene monitoring and cleaning, food removed from unit fridges and much, much more. A planned pilot of Tru-D — the first machine of its kind in Canada that disinfect surfaces with ultraviolet (UV) light — was fast-tracked to supplement these efforts.
Together, this team succeeded in rapidly containing the outbreak. What was difficult could have been much worse and instead we were soon restoring affected acute and residential units to “clean and open” status, freeing empty beds for patients in need.
Dr. Brenda Kosaka: a tireless advocate for patient care
Brenda devoted nights and weekends to help patients with epilepsy get the surgery they need.
When the VGH Epilepsy Program found itself short of one neuropsychologist —a position critical to facilitating patients’ access to surgery — Dr. Brenda Kosaka didn’t hesitate to help.
Having worked in the field of epilepsy for 18 years, Brenda understood the work — conducting pre-surgical assessments — and the importance of patients receiving their results in a timely manner.
“Surgery for epilepsy can significantly improve a patient’s quality of life,” explains Brenda. “The sooner patients receive their assessment results, the sooner they can move to the next step of treatment.”
So, Brenda, already working full-time with the BC Neuropsychiatry Program at UBC Hospital, did what she could — and that was a great deal, indeed.
“While she continued to meet the demands of her very busy service, Brenda often worked late into the evenings and every weekend — for roughly two months — to complete high-priority assessments for patients in need,” says Dr. Theo De Gagne, psychology practice leader, VCH.
As if that weren’t enough, she assisted the Epilepsy Program with its efforts to hire a neuropsychologist, too. Remarkably, Brenda made these contributions on the heels of her coordinating a highly successful collaborative care conference in 2012, the first psychology conference of its kind in the region in 12 years.
“It’s truly a privilege to work, collaborate and consult with Brenda,” says Theo. “She is one of our most senior neuropsychologists and a great team player.
“She sets the bar high for evidence-based practice and accountability for professional practice. She is approachable, always encouraging curiosity for knowledge, and she puts patients’ care first and foremost.”
Dianna Mah-Jones: her “labour of love” brings joy and hope to patients
Inspired by two gifted GF Strong clients, Dianna Mah-Jones organizes GF Strong’s annual Holly Jolly Christmas Concert.
For the past 22 years, Dianna Mah-Jones has worked as an occupational therapist (OT) at our GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre. She has seen a lot in that time, the courage, strength and determination of patients rebuilding their lives. And, then, three years ago, she met two gifted clients who inspired and challenged her like no other.
“Riley Inge was a professional entertainer, a singer and musician,” says Dianna. “His spinal cord injury not only affected his arms and legs but also his voice, and it was my job as his OT to help him with his everyday living skills. For Riley, that included exercising his vocal chords and learning to sing again.”
As fate would have it, Riley wasn’t alone. A good friend and fellow entertainer, William Taylor, was an inpatient at GF Strong’s Brain Injury and Stroke Program. The two performers were on parallels paths of recovery, and their journeys would require some innovative solutions.
And that’s when Dianna came up with the idea of producing a two-hour Christmas season show headlining Riley and William. The performers included current and former clients, staff and friends, including Dianna and her tap dancing troupe Razzmatap. The therapeutic benefits would flow both ways.
“My job is to help clients achieve independence,” explains Dianna, “and for William and Riley — both consummate performers — that included giving them the opportunity to entertain an audience again.”
For those clients, families and friends in the audience, the show brings joy, a break from the routine and, perhaps most importantly, hope. “The audience sees the clients performing as whole beings with a lot to offer. The experience is encouraging, uplifting.”
Since that first concert in 2010, the GF Strong Holly Jolly Christmas Concert has become an annual event. Riley and William have returned to perform each year, and the number of staff performers keeps climbing.
“It’s a labour of love,” says Dianna, “and one that takes a number of people to make happen, including OT Adele MacNeill and her husband Bill, who manage the sound system, and Mark Houlden, recreation programmer, who organizes the equipment, space and volunteers.
“Oh, and I can’t forget my husband Rick Jones!” Dianna says with a laugh.