Patient safety is at the heart of everything we do within Medavie Health Services. Everyone at all levels of our organization – including paramedics, nurses, communications officers, fleet and administrative staff – is dedicated to our patients’ safety and wellbeing.

As we do each year during Canadian Patient Safety Week, which runs October 23-27, we want to recognize those MHS employees who have gone above and beyond in their commitment to patient safety.   It’s also a week to inspire and remind one another that, when it comes to safety, everyone has a role to play. 

We’re looking to you to nominate your coworkers and colleagues who exemplify what it means to be committed to patient safety in any of the following ways: 

• Consistently providing exemplary patient care
• Being a strong patient advocate 
• Participating on patient safety related committees
• Dedicated to improving the patient experience and environment 
• Seeking out potential hazards and/or provides solutions to reduce risks to patients

To nominate an MHS employee as a Patient Safety Champion, submit that person’s name, department/base/station and their immediate supervisor(s) in an email with the subject line “PSW Nomination” to your company’s Patient Safety Working Group member:

• EMC: Michelle Young
• MHSNB: Eric Landry
• IEMS/Medacom: Claude Gavin
• Chatham-Kent:  Matthew Gaudette
• Elgin: Gord Mathers
• Perth: Ian Brown
• MHS West (Saskatoon): Carla Roy
• MHS West (Central): Kenn Eglauer
• MHS West (North-East): Jeff Dolejsi
• MHS West (Moose Jaw): Corey McNeice
• MHS/Medavie HealthEd: Tim Winchester

Please describe exactly why they should be recognized as a Patient Safety Champion, with enough information for us to make our consideration. 

The Patient Safety Champion submission deadline is Friday, October 6^th. It is open to all employees, union and non-union, as well as management, across the MHS group of companies.

We will be announcing our Patient Safety Champions during Patient Safety Week and personally presenting each Patient Safety Champion with a certificate of recognition, Patient Safety challenge coin and a $15 Tim Hortons gift card. We’ll also randomly draw three nominees who will each receive a $150 credit to the Medavie Boutique. If you know of someone who deserves to be recognized, please don’t hesitate to nominate them! 

Patient Safety Working Group

Check out the latest segment of Medavie Health Connect focusing on mental resilience and featuring our very own Donna Galloway and Grant Atkinson-Hardy. Medavie Health Connect is a monthly series, broadcast on CTV Morning Live Atlantic, providing health information and expert advice from a team dedicated to improving the wellbeing of Canadians. 

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2760597

Lights, camera, action! Medavie is now stepping into the television studio to help improve the wellbeing of Canadians.

As a trusted health solutions partner, Medavie is the sponsor of a new monthly television segment, Medavie Health Connect, on CTV Morning Live Atlantic. The show is broadcast weekday mornings from 7-9 a.m. and features a lively mix of news, weather, sports and community information.

Our first segment went live July 4  with the small screen spotlight on Jillian Sherry, EHS Medical Communications Officer, and  Samantha LaPugh, Advanced Care Paramedic, who shared what viewers can expect if they have to call 911 for help.  The second segment aired August 1 and focused on summer safety tips from members of the EHS Operations team. Our third segment, scheduled for September 1, will center on mental health and highlight the Mobile Mental Health Service program Medavie Health Services manage in Prince Edward Island.

Future segments will cover a variety of Medavie Health Services- and Medavie Blue Cross-related topics, all with the goal of providing health and wellness information and expert advice to viewers, in keeping with the mission of Medavie.

Our television appearances are also opportunities to raise brand awareness, highlighting how Medavie connects Canadians to care through benefits management, health care delivery and emergency medical care.

If you can’t tune in for the live show, don’t worry. We’ll continue share video recordings of the monthly segments on MyMedavie.

Credit for Medavie Health Connect goes to Medavie Health Services-West who inspired us with their Medic Minute on Global Television.

They say home is where the heart is, and for Thuy Phan, that is Canada, a place she has proudly called home since moving here from Vietnam with her two children, Thanh and Tram, to give them a better life.

Journey began in 2007

Thuy began to prepare her family for immigration in 2007. She studied Human Resources practices and the global job market for HR professionals, explored the world’s diversity with her children, developed their English language skills and did her homework on the countries that offered the best work-life balance.

“I searched and compared many countries before making the decision to choose Canada. Canada gives me what I want: A high quality of life, safety and peacefulness, and publicly funded health care.”

Thuy and her children, then 18 and 15, landed in Fredericton, New Brunswick from Vietnam in 2014. While her children attended school, she worked first for Yorkville University, then the Government of New Brunswick and Forest Protection Limited .

Now Thuy lives in Halifax and is enjoying a career as a Human Resources Business Partner with Emergency Medical Care (EMC) Inc. — a Medavie Health Services operating company in Nova Scotia. Her son and daughter are graduated from the University of New Brunswick’s Electrical Engineering program and working hard to obtain their Professional Engineer Licences, and she is actively giving back to the country that welcomed them as new immigrants.

They officially became Canadian citizens in January 2019 — a “huge milestone” for her and her children.

When asked what she likes most about living in Canada, her answer is the generosity of Canadians, the country’s history, and its scenic beauty.

“People offer to help each other. They care for their communities and their neighbours, and Canada’s history and landscape are two things I can’t find enough time to discover.”

Her plan to celebrate Canada Day this year? “I want to start my quarterly contribution to the IWK Foundation to support children and women’s health.”

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Thank you to all involved in making primary health care more accessible to New Brunswickers.

Since July 2022, the NB Health Link has been providing New Brunswickers with access to a network of family doctors and nurse practitioners throughout the province. As the team recently celebrated their first anniversary together, they also recognized their success in helping more than 45,000 patients get access to the primary health care and essential services they require.

Employees gathered to mark the occasion with some delicious treats and a celebration.

We are proud to offer such a service, and option, to New Brunswickers, and we want to thank everyone who is helping to make this possible.

Cheers to another successful year ahead!

Medavie CEO Bernard Lord recently joined Santis Health Principal Ross Wallace for a podcast conversation on how the private delivery of publicly funded health care services can help ensure Canadians have better and equal access to quality care.

“I want things that will work for Canadians.” – Bernard Lord

Mr. Lord, who is also Chair of the International Federation of Health Plans, the Chair of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association and the President of the Canadian Association of Blue Cross Plans, spoke on the value of a collaborative, patient-centred approach to health care.

“We need to put the patient first, not the ideology first.”

Mr. Lord said over the past two years he has observed a greater willingness among all health care stakeholders, from physicians to politicians “to do things differently.” He pointed to recent surveys which show that two-thirds of Canadians are open to publicly funded, privately delivered care.

“Canadians are ready for change.”

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Every Canadian is affected by a lack of access. Consider that 50% of Canadian adults have or have experienced a permanent or temporary disability or know someone who has.

Though great strides have been made to make community spaces and workplaces more accessible and inclusive, Canadians with disabilities still face social and physical barriers preventing them from living fully.

“As a national health solutions partner, Medavie is committed to removing those barriers and ensuring equal opportunities for everyone we employ and serve. Our goal is to meet the needs of those that have disabilities and support them in ways that respect their dignity, privacy, comfort, and autonomy.”
– Jennifer Taylor, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Medavie

From May 28 to June 3, Medavie marked National AccessAbility Week (NAAW) to highlight the work that is being done to build a better, more accessible, and more disability-confident Canada.

“Disability is the only minority group that anyone can become part of at any point in their life. Elevators, soundproof headphones, the ability to enlarge fonts, and wearing a mask are all examples of things that can help make workplaces more accessible to disabled employees, but they are not exclusive to only disabled employees. An accessible workplace gives everyone the equal opportunity to thrive.”
– Ashley Gaudet, Audit Investigator, Medavie Blue Cross and member Medavie’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council

Our organization strives to prevent and remove barriers so that employees have equal access to their work environment and can carry out their duties without obstacles.

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Affectionately known by her present and past students as “Mama Bear” for her caring and protective nature, Isabelle Richard Basque is the Lead Instructor for Medavie HealthEd’s French language Primary Care Paramedic program (PCP) in Tracadie, bringing 27 years of experience as a paramedic to her role.

“My students are very much my kids. I give my 100% in teaching them all the tools and support they need to succeed and become highly qualified paramedics.”

Tracadie is one of five campuses across Canada where Medavie HealthEd educates and trains students to become paramedics. Medavie HealthEd’s rigorous curriculum and hands-on practical training are delivered by experienced and skilled educators like Isabelle.

Accredited by Accreditation Canada, Medavie HealthEd is a longstanding provider of paramedic education in Atlantic Canada and a key training partner of the Department of National Defence for the Canadian Armed Forces.

Graduates get jobs

Graduates of the Tracadie program have a high rate of success in getting licensed to practice as paramedics and finding work immediately, with 96% obtaining their license the first time they attempt it ― the same percentage that are hired on their first job application.

“I truly believe it’s because of the amazing teaching team we have here. All of our Tracadie Campus instructors are former students of the Medavie HealthEd PCP program and are devoted to the success of every individual student and of our school.”

However, the first step in their career path is getting accepted into Isabelle’s class, Medavie HealthEd has an application process that includes an interview at the campus with her. She interviews all applicants to the Tracadie program to ensure they have what it takes to do this life-changing and life-saving line of work.

One of the questions she always asks is why they want to be a paramedic.

“The answer I want to hear is ‘I want to help. I want to make a difference. I want to have a job that’s not the same every day. I want to evolve as a person. I want to be part of something bigger.’ Those are all things that we’re looking for. Because it takes someone special person to become a paramedic.”

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I am excited to share that Medavie Health Services has been engaged to deliver and manage a mobile mental health and addictions clinic in collaboration with the Ontario government and key stakeholders in the Huron–Bruce and Perth–Wellington regions.

Working on the frontlines of health care, we know the toll that mental health and addictions issues can have on individuals, families and communities. This clinic will help supplement existing local services and create new pathways to care, while aiming to decrease reliance on emergency departments and reduce mental health and addictions-related hospital admissions.

We joined Minister Michael Tibollo, MPP Lisa Thompson and various other stakeholders in Goderich, Ontario to announce the clinic, which will operate 8-10 hours per day, five days per week.

In the coming weeks, we will be conducting a series of stakeholder consultations to ensure we are able to fully meet the needs of individuals and their families in these regions. We will also look to leverage our experience bringing mental health and addictions supports to communities elsewhere in Canada, for instance, through the Mobile Mental Health Response Service in PEI and the Mobile Health Bus in Saskatchewan.

We look forward to sharing additional details once the clinic takes shape under the leadership of Khaled Luqman and others from our Ontario Operations Leadership Team, including myself, Michael Adair and Donald MacLellan.

Matthew Crossman

Vice President, Operations

Medavie Health Services

Training the Health Workers of Tomorrow

Melissa Hardcastle walks into the examination room, where her patient is seated. Melissa’s patient, Jerry, came to the hospital complaining of being drowsy and dizzy. Melissa checks his vital signs to diagnose his condition. Suddenly, Jerry’s blood pressure drops. His airways narrow, blocking his breathing. His pulse races, and a rash appears on his skin. Melissa confirms that Jerry is going into shock from anaphylaxis, a potentially fatal allergic reaction, and needs an injection of epinephrine right away to save his life.

In less than a minute, Jerry’s vital signs return to normal and as her patient stabilizes, Melissa—a second-year Practical Nurse program student— slides off her virtual reality (VR) headset and turns to her instructor, Sarah Brown, for an evaluation.

Jerry is what is known as a “HoloPatient,” an immersive 3D learning application that helps students like Melissa learn how to assess, diagnose and treat true-to-life holographic patients with real-life conditions in a virtual classroom. Welcome to the future of learning at New Brunswick Community College’s School of Health and Wellness.

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