1. The Acute Cardiac Care Unit (ACCU) on 5AWest at SBH will officially open tomorrow! The finishing touches are complete and staff orientation to the unit has already taken place in preparation for the transfer/arrival of patients tomorrow. People who have been key in the completion of this project are Gladys Cadieux, Rosanne Labossiere-Gee and Chris Kuttnig. Many thanks to them, and to all who have contributed! As well, thanks go to the many external and internal tradespeople who worked on the unit, without whom this couldn’t have happened!
2. A soft launch of use of the APPROACH database took place last month. This database, originally developed in Alberta, is used across the country and allows the collection and processing of information to track outcomes and improve cardiac care. In Manitoba, it will initially be used in Cardiac Angiography (Heart Cath Lab) and Cardiac Surgery; while the potential exists for other uses (e.g., waitlist management), none are not being planned at this point. Extra-special appreciation goes to Gladys Cadieux, Carolyn Gilmour- Hillier, and Dr. Riz Manji for their perseverance throughout this multi-year project. And thanks to all of the interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons for their enthusiastic participation!
3. Dr. Amir Ravandi (pictured below) has received the Dr. F.W. Du Val Clinical Research Professorship Award from the Manitoba Medical Service Foundation. This award, valued at $170,000 over three years, will allow Dr. Ravandi to continue his work studying the inhibition of lipids which cause tissue damage after a heart attack. Dr. Ravandi will begin his clinical professorship on July 1, 2016. This is a wonderful achievement, Dr. Ravandi, kudos!
4. On June 23, 2016, Lorraine Avery was awarded the clinical nurse specialist of the year award. This award was established in 2011 by the Clinical Nurse Specialists of Manitoba Interest Group to recognize a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) in Manitoba for outstanding professional achievement in the five domains of advanced nursing practice. Lorraine says, “I am humbled by this, and I am so blessed to work with such an amazing team.” Congratulations, Lorraine, on this level of recognition from your peers!
5. Mark September 30 on your calendar for Arrhythmia Day! This educational day, to be held on the University of Manitoba Bannatyne campus, will feature Dr. Andrew Krahn, an internationally recognized expert in the management of cardiac arrhythmias. Look for more information in the upcoming months!
6. Heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Carly Lodewkys, for her success in achieving a Clinical Fellowship award from Research Manitoba, announced last week. Dr. Lodewkys will receive $70,000 to provide salary support to complete her planned MSc. in Community Health Sciences under the co-supervision of Navdeep Tangri and Dr. Rakesh Arora to investigate The Long Term Functional Survival After Surgery on the Thoracic Aorta in Manitoba. Carly has also been accepted into the Clinical Investigator Program under the Directorship of Dr. Shayne Taback.
7. A celebration of the Cardiac Sciences Program’s TAVI program was held on Monday, June 27th. TAVIs (trans-catheter aortic valve implantations) have been performed in Manitoba since 2012, and in May, the 100th procedure was performed. A tea was held to recognize this milestone, and CTV was there to cover the event. Click on the link to see the video clip that aired on the 6:00 pm news on Monday and CTV Morning Live on Tuesday: http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=900360.
In addition, Dr. Malek Kass was interviewed on CJOB regarding TAVI the morning of June 27th. If you’d like to listen to the interview, you can do so by clicking here: http://omnyapp.com/shows/richard-cloutier-reports/new-technology-in-cardiology-is-saving-lives
Congratulations to the entire team!
