Story Type: Staff

“I saw firsthand how to build a team, how to nurture it to get the most of out everyone,” he said. “I have carried this over to my current role.”

In fact, it was the team and some of the innovative thinking and approaches to healthcare that inspired Dr. Belton to take on his current role at JBH.

“When I came for my interview, I saw the Pandemic Response Unit, which clearly put the community and patients first,” said Dr. Belton. “The Complete Breast Care program is another example of an innovative program that our community is lucky to have and deserves.”

For Dr. Belton, diagnostic imaging is central to the healthcare system and provides a truly unique opportunity to work collaboratively with other departments toward the success of the entire organization.

“The vast majority of patients will require some sort of imaging during a typical hospital visit,” he says. “I want to work with my colleagues to provide the best possible care.”

Dr. Rawlinson recalls an example, where a woman came to the Emergency Department (ED) with severe abdominal pain. When her blood work came back normal, a CT scan was performed to determine the cause of the pain.

When one of Dr. Rawlinson’s colleagues reviewed the scan, the quality of the imaging was so detailed that they were able to identify a 4-centimetre section of her bowel where the X-ray dye was not showing up, meaning there was no blood supply. 

“Our teams work very closely together, with the radiologist sharing his findings to the ED doctor. Urgent laparoscopic surgery was performed to restore the blood supply and save the bowel,” he said. “Without the CT Scan and the communication between the teams, the patient would have become very ill, very quickly.”

Every year, Joseph Brant Hospital conducts diagnostic imaging tests on almost 120,000 patients to diagnose illness – including kidney stones, cancerous tumours and diverticulitis – and develop treatment plans for patients.

“I am regularly reviewing the results of the diagnostic imaging tests performed at the hospital,” said Dr. Rawlinson. “I feel very privileged to play such an integral role in the care of our patients and am so grateful that our patients have access to  state-of-the-art imaging technology that our patients need.”

Her experience, and the conflict with her own care team, has ultimately led her to her role as Peer Support Worker at Joseph Brant Hospital. In her role, Maria is able to apply her own experience and be an advocate for the patient.

“I see both worlds, and I’m trying to educate people on the stigma of mental illness,” she said. “We need to treat mental health & addictions as a medical issue, and not a moral issue.”

Maria is an advocate for fluid conversations between patients and clinical staff. She believes in giving patients a voice in their own treatment plan.

In her role, she works with individual patients and groups to share her experience and a representative that “this too shall pass” and working with patients after isolation or seclusion.

“We talk through options for the future and I ask them ‘What is it that you want?’”

For more information about the Mental Health & Addictions Program at Joseph Brant Hospital, visit https://keepcareclosetohome.ca.

For Dr. Manjoo, the most rewarding part of being an Orthopedic surgeon is seeing the improvement of someone’s quality of life.  “I’ve been a surgeon for more than 10 years and the best part is seeing that you have improved someone’s quality of life” he says. ”There are still days when I wake up and think, I can’t believe I get to do this,” says Dr. Manjoo.

Dr. Manjoo, is very proud of the way Joseph Brant hospital is able to bring cutting edge surgical techniques to the community of Burlington. He has worked very closely with the hospital leadership to be able to offer patients minimally invasive ankle fusions, achilles repairs, and complex fracture repair.

“We have worked hard to offer these services to the Burlington community and we are becoming a centre of excellence for Orthopedic surgery in Ontario. We have strategically grown our team such that we are now capable of doing procedure that in the past has only been performed at University hospitals,” says Dr. Manjoo.

Apart from providing surgical care to patients, Dr. Manjoo is committed to increasing the academic profile of Joseph Brant Hospital. He is an Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at McMaster University and was recently published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine for a study that compared Total Hip Replacement to Hemi-replacement for the treatment of hip fractures.

Dr. Manjoo notes how Orthopedics at Joseph Brant Hospital has evolved to reflect new changes in medicine.

“Foot and ankle surgery has become more minimally invasive using arthroscopy and specialized techniques that allow us to do more complex surgeries with less damage to the soft tissues and with better functional outcomes,” says Dr. Manjoo. “An excellent example of this is how we treat Achilles tendon ruptures. Historically, there has been a high risk of wound complications with this procedure, however with minimally invasive techniques we can now be more aggressive with respect to who we can fix with less complications and better functional results.”

For Dr. Manjoo the best part of working at Joseph Brant hospital is the incredible staff.

“I have never worked at hospital where the staff are so dedicated to helping patients. They go above and beyond to ensure that their patient has a positive experience while they are in their care. What I appreciate the most is that we all have a mutual respect for each others roles in caring for patients. The last two years have been very difficult and have stretched us all to our limits, but the kindness and support that we show each other everyday has really helped us get through it.”

Dr. Razmy has worked with a number of large organizations, including the NHL Coaches Association and The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan to tackle some of the everyday challenges of the workplace: conflict management, burnout, and leading teams through challenges. Now, people are layering on the impacts of a pandemic.

“We’re now dealing with things like redeployment, working from home, home schooling,” he said. “But at its core, it’s the same question – how can you support being well in the workplace?”

For Dr. Razmy, it is about taking care of yourself as an individual first, so you can be there to support others. The pandemic has left people feeling dismayed.

“Each wave of the pandemic has brought a new wave of anxiety and the need to adapt and rely on the coping mechanisms we’ve adopted,” said Dr. Razmy. “This ongoing need to rebuild your resiliency – like a dam and there are so many holes right now. That’s why we need people to lean on right now.”

In his role at JBH, Dr. Razmy helps lead a team of Mental Health & Addictions staff who are finding innovative and timely solutions to support our community.

“I’m very proud of our team recognizing the fact that the pandemic is disproportionate in terms of its impact. Marginalized members or our community or those suffering with MHA are hurting,” he said. “I’m proud of our team in recognizing that and coming up with proactive measures and unique ways to make care available to our patient population.

Over the years, one of the most memorable moments John remembers was helping a patient who came to their unit after suffering a terrible injury at work.  They were unable to return to their job and suffered many losses because of this.

“I remember sitting with them on several occasions, as they vented and expressed their concerns,” says John.

The team was able to help the patient with medication adjustments and getting connected with support in the community.  “A few years later, they came back to visit us on the unit, to let us know that they were back on their feet and doing well.  They told us that they were very grateful for all the help they got from the staff on the unit, and that they remembered that I let them vent and cry which meant a lot to them,” says John.

Working in the Mental Health & Addictions unit, John has found how incredible the team is.

“The staff are amazing, and we all work together to help people manage their condition.  Whether it be for education surrounding their medications or connecting them with the right resources in the community,” says John.

John notes how the COVID-19 pandemic has made things very difficult for everyone.  Seeing how many people are feeling isolated and lonely, he notes that the Mental Health & Addictions program has grown and been made more accessible for the community.

“Patients that are discharged are able to get follow-up appointments quicker and are better connected to the resources in the community that they need,” says John.  “I would also say thank you to our community and donors because it’s their support and contributions that are helping the hospital continue its mission.”

“We deal with neonates, pediatrics and adults. We can be found at high risk deliveries resuscitating a newborn in the Labour and Delivery Department, receiving a patient from Paramedics with vital signs absent in the Emergency Department, intubating and placing a patient on a ventilator in the ICU and many other areas within the hospital.”

Over the years, Jason speaks on the great learning experiences he’s received from his fellow RRTs, Intensivists, nurses and other JBH colleagues.

“I’ve gained a lot of knowledge over my 3 year career at JBH and especially this past year when dealing with COVID-19 patients we’ve learned new ventilation strategies and procedures when treating this infection.”

Navigating the waves of COVID-19, Jason is proud of how everyone has been able to adapt to the situation and perform their jobs as needed.  Everyone is constantly learning new information, best practices and adapting it to their daily tasks

“The management team in the ICU are doing incredible work with planning and being ready for any type of situation that could arise,” says Jason.

When asked about any particular moments at JBH that stand out to Jason, he explains that there are so many.

“There are many memorable moments at JBH. One moment that sticks out to me happened at the beginning of COVID-19. During the first wave of COVID-19, we had a very sick patient on life support. It took months of hard work to eventually get him off the ventilator where he was able to finally breathe on his own again. One year later, he came back and genuinely thanked all the staff that was part of his care at JBH. It is moments like this that give me hope when dealing with this pandemic.”

With tiring and long working shifts, Jason notes that even the smallest gifts cheer him up.

“I have to say thank you to the donors and the community. When you’re finally done a very long shift and you see thank you cards, letters, small gifts or gestures- it’s seeing those words of thanks that makes me reflect on what I’m doing and what it means to families in my community.”

“I always learn new things from my patients and what we need to be more aware of,” she says. “Our job isn’t just centered around medication.  We’re building rapport with our patients daily and talking to them about their illness and focusing on their overall well-being.  We focus on the person, not the illness.”

Rusiri and the team are seeing the impacts of COVID-19 on their clients with social isolation and the added precautions. She stresses how it’s important to seek help, and the team at JBH is working every day to break the stigma and support the community with programs and understanding.

“We truly care about our patients.  They come to us in a difficult part in their life, and we motivate and help them thrive and get control of their life.  When we see their progress and see them leave, it’s rewarding to know we’ve helped someone in our community,” says Rusiri.

Noting also how appreciative she is of the community and donors, she adds, “Without the community, our organization wouldn’t be able to provide the level of care our patients deserve.  Contributions are what allows us to provide exemplary care to our patients.”

Rusiri talks about the feeling of community at JBH and the kindness that lives there. “It doesn’t matter who you are, everyone is welcoming and polite with smiles on their faces. It really changes your outlook when you work in that kind of environment.  When you come to JBH that’s who you evolve into, you become a better person.”

“It’s really been a team effort- screeners, check-in/check-out, registered pharmacy technicians, physicians, nursing students and paramedic students all playing a role,” said Samuel. “That’s in addition to the teams who support the technology, supplies, parking and cleaning needs of the clinic and its patients.

In addition, the feedback from the community about the experience has been overwhelmingly positive for the over 17,000 members of our community who have received their vaccination at JBH as of April 30.

“There is such a positive energy in that space because they been looking forward to this day for so long,” she said. “It’s an honour to be a part of this experience and to improve the health of our community.”

She ran down with her care partner Tanya to determine how they could help, but they couldn’t locate the mom. Finally, they saw a man beside a van and asked him if they knew where they were needed.

“He said it was his wife, and pointed to the van,” she said. “When we opened the door the baby was already crowning, and we ended up delivering in the van before taking mom and baby upstairs to L&D.”

For Melissa, the team at JBH, and the Labour and Delivery Unit specifically, is incredibly special.

“We have an amazing team. I can’t say enough about them… we all work so well together. Everyday I’m so thankful I work where I do.”

And while Melissa and the entire L&D team wait for the redevelopment of the unit, they continue to provide compassionate care to our community in the moments that matter most.

“We’re so lucky to have Joseph Brant Hospital in our community,” she said.