Care Safely for our patients and yourself – get your flu shot today!
Over the past two weeks we have been asking staff to get their flu shots and finish the sentence, "I Fight the Flu For…" So far I've heard that you are fighting the flu for our patients, your families, our students, and your colleagues, to name a few. Getting vaccinated against the influenza virus is a simple way that we can all Care Safely. It's incredibly important to prevent yourself against the influenza virus – on average 12,200 hospitalizations and 3,500 deaths each year are related to the flu in Canada. These are staggering numbers for a virus that is preventable and we have a responsibility to ourselves, our patients, and our families to protect ourselves against the flu. For me,
this article in the National Post truly highlights the importance of getting your flu shot.
While the flu shot is a great preventative measure, some of you may still get sick so it's important to protect yourself, your colleagues, and our patients. This includes staying at home if you're sick. Dr. Susy Hota, Infectious Diseases Physician for UHN's Department of Infection Prevention and Control says, "If you feel like you're coming down with a cold or flu, you should not be interacting with patients. If your role is so critical that you can't find coverage and absolutely have to work, then closely follow
UHN's Respiratory Viruses policy."
CAPCR Version 2
Tomorrow, Version 2 of the Coordinated Approval Process for Clinical Research (CAPCR) will be launching. CAPCR is a web-based application, created and developed at UHN, that provides a 'one-stop shop' for researchers to obtain all the approvals required for conducting research involving humans at UHN. Once all approvals are received for a study, Institutional Authorization is issued by the CAPCR system and studies may begin. The launch of CAPCR Version 2 will enable us to submit all review applications through CAPCR, respond to reviewer comments within CAPCR, store and access up-to-date information and study documents, and access all studies that existed prior to the release of CAPCR. By reducing the wait times for approvals, CAPCR Version 2 is helping our researchers get to their innovative work, faster.
Supporting our Foundations
Our foundations play an important role in supporting the work that we do here at UHN. They have set ambitious goals to help us improve our hospitals and care for our patients. In 2012 the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation (PMCF) launched their Billion Dollar Challenge to support research at the Princess Margaret while making advances in clinical care, technology, and therapeutics possible. The Toronto Rehab Foundation (TRF) is working hard to make incredible happen with their own $100 million campaign, which will help transform the care, equipment, and facilities needed to continue providing world-class care. These are bold campaigns, and I am grateful to both for their continued work towards these milestones.
Recently, the Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation (TGWHF) publicly launched their Billion Dollar Campaign – you may have seen
this ad in the Globe & Mail. This campaign has been underway quietly for a number of years and the foundation is well on its way to reaching its goal of $1 billion in private support. The theme of the campaign is "what knowledge can do" – because our ongoing pursuit of knowledge is improving the lives of our patients, and individuals here and around the world. My personal thanks to all of our foundations for the great work they do in support of our hospitals, research, and education – your tireless efforts are helping us to put patients first.
Peter
renewinguhn.ca
