Staff education creating impact across KHSC

As an organization KHSC prides ourselves in having a culture of ongoing learning, and this year marks a milestone for our People Services department.  

Many staff members at our two hospital sites express a desire to learn and teach each other through professional development. Since 1999, PSOE has funded $500,000 in education loans and bursaries to staff members working in the hospitals wishing to advance their careers through education.

Two of these staff members, Angela Hollett and Brad McNeil, shared their stories below. Both are recipients of the BMO Award for Health Care Excellence and are busy implementing new programs in the hospitals as a result of their education.

Learning from the experts

When Angela Hollett was approved for a BMO Award for Health Care Excellence, she brought two of her colleagues down to the CS Mott Children’s Hospital in Michigan where they completed an in-depth training session on the logistics of operating a milk-prep room for a neo-natal intensive care unit.

“About two years ago we were approved to build a temporary milk-prep room in the NICU,” explained Angela, “but we didn’t really know how to get started until we had the chance to work with people who have been through the process.”

Working with the representatives from CS Mott, Angela and her team have started planning out the details of the milk prep room from the way the room is designed and laid out to the specific equipment needed.

“Learning about this has helped us determine what we need for every step from both a staff and patient perspective. For example, we know that we need to outline a drop-off process for staff to clarify important information with the moms about their breastmilk.”

Angela and her colleagues will be working closely with nutrition services and the NICU to make sure current practices run as smoothly as possible until redevelopment, when a permanent milk-prep room will be built using standards recommended by Angela and her team.

Improving access to care and education in mental health

Brad McNeil is a clinical psychologist working in the Adult Eating Disorders Program at Hotel Dieu Hospital site. In 2016, Brad’s application for the BMO Award for Health Care Excellence was approved, allowing him to travel to the International Conference on Eating Disorders (ICED) in San Francisco, California.

While at the conference, Brad had the opportunity to network with other professionals from around the world who inspired him to develop a better way to train the next group of clinical psychologists.

“We collaborated with the mental health program to create a doctoral residency program in clinical psychology. People who are training for their PhD can now come to do their residency at Hotel Dieu Hospital, and at the same time, we are providing a greater scope of services for our patients.”

Brad says the program is also a great way to recruit clinical psychologists to stay in Kingston long-term. Candidates are more likely to stay in Kingston after they complete their year of training and become familiar with everything the city has to offer.

“We are always seeking novel ways of improving services,” explained Brad. “We recognized a great opportunity to start this program