Robert Nyagudi, Supply Chain/Materiel Management

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing our world and health-care professionals are on the front lines.

“The supply chain is abuzz,” says Robert Nyagudi, manager of supply chain and materiel management at Misericordia Health Centre on the COVID-19 situation.

As you may have noticed given empty grocery store shelves and all the memes floating around on social media – there’s a lot of panic buying these days. There’s a global shortage of items such as hand sanitizer and masks, which has had an impact on hospitals and health centres.

“Everyone has worked really collaboratively at Misericordia and within the province,” says Robert.

At one point, it looked as if Misericordia was almost out of toilet paper. He had to make a move on this – and quickly. 

“We wound up checking with housekeeping and all the units to re-distribute supplies.”

Things are running smoothly as the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, thanks to staff diligence and efforts to monitor and safely store supplies.

Robert has put in extra time to ensure critical supplies are available throughout the facility. In collaboration with the vendor community, the provincial supply chain has worked on a solution to remedy the hand sanitizer shortage. MHC Materiels Management continues to work on solutions for Misericordia.

“We’re working with businesses in Manitoba who have the ability to manufacture hand sanitizer,” he says.

Amongst the fear buying and supply shortages, there hasn’t been a shortage of team work at Misericordia.

Keep COVID-19 informed by visiting: covid19manitoba.ca

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Sharon Constant, Information Desk

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing our world and health-care professionals are on the front lines.

Sharon Constant has been part of the Misericordia family for 39 years. Her duties used to include the mailroom and driving the hospital van, but today, as a communications clerk, it’s all switchboard.

The arrival of COVID-19 has brought new challenges in the communications area.

“The first week (of COVID-19), while Health Links – Info Santé was getting such an abundance of calls, my whole switchboard went down.”

Thankfully it was restored quickly, and these days she says “they’ve got all their ducks in a row.”

Everyone in the health centre is, “working as a team,” to face the COVID-19 crisis and keep patients and each other safe, Sharon says.

“Which is a big thing. We’re the Misericordia family.”

Keep COVID-19 informed by visiting: covid19manitoba.ca

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Michelle Fehr, Sleep Disorder Centre

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing our world and health-care professionals are on the front lines.

Michelle Fehr, a respiratory therapist at Misericordia’s Sleep Disorder Centre, says the sleep team has upped their game during COVID-19.

To protect patient safety and still deliver their needed services, they are visiting patients at hospitals to allow them to go home sooner rather than bring them to MHC for a full sleep study.

Ordinarily a sleep study would allow Michelle and her team to determine if someone requires a bi-level machine to help them breathe during sleep, and how to calibrate the machine for that patient.

To allow patients to get their machines and go home, the team at Misericordia is remotely downloading data from the machines and visiting patients at hospitals to give them the help they need to go home without making an extra trip to the centre.

It’s a major adaptation, but it’s keeping more people safe during the COVID-19 outbreak and still allowing patients with sleep disorders or lung disease to get the equipment they need to breathe properly.

Michelle is also keeping herself and others safe by washing her hands a lot more, and social/physical distancing—a critical measure to stopping the spread of the virus. It’s a measure Michelle will be glad to discard once COVID-19 is defeated.

“You know what I miss doing? Hugging people. That will probably be the first thing I give them a hug, all my friends, when this is over!”

Keep COVID-19 informed by visiting: covid19manitoba.ca

#mhcfamily #healthcareheroesMB #COVID19

Shauna Courchene, Patient Registration

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing our world and health-care professionals are on the front lines.

Patient registrar, Shauna Courchene, has been putting in some extra shifts at Misericordia’s patient registration desk. COVID-19 has brought new screening procedures and safety protocols that are ever-changing.

“Often we’re the first checkpoint for patients after an initial screening at an entrance,” she says.

“We register them before they go up for surgery or any minor procedures. Also our emergency eye care.”

Patients have been coming in a little more nervous during the COVID-19 outbreak, especially older people.

“It puts a smile on my face when they say, ‘You’re so cheerful.’

“It’s our responsibility and dedication to make sure all patients and their families feel safe when they’re coming in.”

Shauna says the patient registration team takes care of each other. She usually starts, and ends, her day checking in with everyone to make sure they’re feeling OK.

“I feel like we’re all in this together.”

Keep COVID-19 informed by visiting: covid19manitoba.ca

#mhcfamily #healthcareheroesMB #COVID19

Jimmy Varga, Finance

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing our world and health-care professionals are on the front lines.

For Jimmy Varga, MHC’s director of finance, it’s almost business as usual in the finance department as bills still need to be paid and staff hired as the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve.

“It’s year end, so this time of year is always busy,” says Jimmy. “Plus, we are now tracking COVID-19 expenses separately from the rest of operations, in terms of salary and supply costs.”

“The Provincial Health Contact Centre has been most impacted with the hiring of close to 70 new COVID-19 screeners as casual positions within Health Links – Info Santé.”

Residents and families who usually visit the finance department in person to make payments are now being guided to mail in cheques, pay over the phone using credit card or set up recurring direct deposits.

“I’ve also noticed everyone is washing their hands more regularly in the department,” says Jimmy with a laugh.

On a more personal note, Jimmy enjoys checking in on breaks with his wife to see how she is faring at home caring for their 10-month-old Elias, who is just starting to wave.

Jimmy’s finding it hard not being able to take Elias to visit grandparents – in particular Jimmy’s Mom, who is a health-care aide in a Winnipeg emergency department – for everyone’s safety. 

Keep COVID-19 informed by visiting: covid19manitoba.ca

#mhcfamily #healthcareheroesMB #COVID19

John Beilman, Environmental Services

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing our world and health-care professionals are on the front lines.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life. You get used to doing things for decades,” said John Beilman, on the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Misericordia.

“Each cleaning staff member typically has their floor or area to clean, but when I’m paged, it can be anytime, anything, anywhere.”

Nowadays there is an increased need to gear up in personal protective equipment (PPE) for terminal cleaning of isolation rooms. PPE includes gloves, a gown and a mask, to protect patients and staff.

John has been part of the MHC environmental services team for more than four decades, starting as part-time staff, working weekends.

The environmental services team is always diligent and conscientious about deep cleaning, but COVID-19 has presented different work like, “We took half of the chairs out of the cafeteria, and spaced them,” said John about COVID-19 procedures, including social distancing.

Keep COVID-19 informed by visiting: manitoba.ca/covid19

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Dr. Mathen K. Mathen, Head of Ophthalmology

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing our world and health-care professionals are on the front lines.

“Nothing is normal. Everything is different,” Dr. Mathen sums up the evolving COVID-19 situation at Misericordia, home to the provincial eye care centre of excellence.

Ophthalmologists are still seeing patients in MHC’s eye care clinics, but only those whose condition would otherwise deteriorate if they didn’t continue to receive timely care: many macular degeneration injections and oncology appointments, for example.

Dr. Mathen is currently working with Winnipeg ophthalmologists across the city to finalize a new process so they can provide on-call eye care at Misericordia – where personal protective equipment (PPE) and support is more available – rather than in their offices.

Coincidentally, as he’s speaking, an ophthalmology resident pops her head into Dr. Mathen’s office to fit-test a pair of PPE goggles.

“We’re reduced our elective surgery slates,” says Dr. Mathen, “and we may go to strictly emergency surgeries in the near future. I know this is a difficult message for patients who have been waiting some time for eye surgeries. We take our direction from Shared Health and this is absolutely the safest way to protect our patients and our staff.”

“Misericordia will always remain open for eye emergencies.”

Indeed. Dr. Mathen is the emergency on-call ophthalmologist this week and performed four retinal detachment surgeries today.

Keep COVID-19 informed by visiting: covid19manitoba.ca

#mhcfamily #healthcareheroesMB #COVID19