wrh

April 22 2024

Lower-Limb Preservation Education Provider Education Webinar- May 14th, 2024

Windsor Regional Hospital, Windsor Family Health Team, and the Windsor-Essex Ontario Health Team is inviting you to the Lower Limb Preservation Provider Education Webinar. This education event will highlight the importance of lower limb health, new and emerging best practices, and pathways for patients to access urgent and preventative care in Windsor-Essex.

Who should attend:

Primary Care Providers
Specialists
Allied Health Care Providers

Why should you attend:

Ontario has one of the highest lower limb amputation rates compared to similar publicly funded jurisdictions in the world.

Ontario Health has launched the Lower Limb Preservation Strategy (LLPS) with demonstration sites across Ontario, including Windsor-Essex, to build an integrated continuum of care for individuals at risk for a lower limb amputation.

Join us to learn how together we can avoid life altering amputations and improve the quality of care for the patients we support.

Date: May 14, 2024

Time: 5pm-6pm

Where: Online

To register and for more details visit our Eventbrite page at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/883686127997?aff=oddtdtcreator

March 27 2024

WRH: Seeking Volunteers for Board Standing Committee

Volunteer Paper Ad-4.0463x10.214-2024 wrh

April 4 2023

WRH First in Ontario to perform robot assisted hip replacement

Windsor Regional Hospital remains on the cutting edge when it comes to offering the latest technology to its patients.

Earlier this month, Dr. Greg Jasey and Dr. Mike McCaffrey became the first surgeons in Ontario to perform a total hip replacement with the assistance of the Stryker Mako SmartRobotics system – a specialized robot used to perform joint replacement surgery.

“Before the surgery even begins, it allows the surgeon to generate a more detailed pre-operative plan based on 3D anatomy taken from a pre-operative CT scan. In traditional manual surgery, this is done based on 2D imaging or X-rays,” explains Dr. McCaffrey. “This difference alone is night and day. This technology then allows the surgeon’s plan to be customized to the patient’s specific needs. The components of the joint replacement can be placed with more accuracy and consistency as well as in a less traumatic fashion than with traditional techniques.”

The assistance of the Stryker Mako robot allows for greater precision and accuracy and, as a result, fewer corrective procedures for patients down the road. The robot is expected to improve patient outcomes and recovery while lowering the number of corrective surgeries needed to fine-tune work done in previous procedures.

“Some of the biggest problems with hip replacements in North America are dislocations. We find that most of those situations are the results of components not being put in quite the right position,” explains Dr. Jasey. “Being able to put the components in the right position decreases the failure rate of hip replacement surgery.”

The $1.5-million machine is a new addition to the WRH arsenal and has been used for a number of knee replacement procedures, but applying it to hip replacements has been a groundbreaking move in the healthcare sector.

“The field of medicine is always evolving and requires lifelong learning and adapting to new technologies that can potentially help our patients and improve their outcomes. However, before we embrace such a new technology, it is important that it has demonstrated clear and measurable benefits against the current status quo,” says Dr. McCaffrey, adding that WRH has strongly supported the adoption of this technology after reviewing data from other centres.

The Stryker Mako SmartRobotics system went operational at WRH on February 1, 2023. The system was first used for knees by St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton in 2019, while its first use for hips in Canada took place just last year at Dartmouth General Hospital in Nova Scotia and is currently the only other hospital in the country using the technology for hip replacement procedures.

Windsor Regional Hospital wishes to thank its Board of Directors for the purchase and for agreeing to invest in innovative care for patients across Windsor-Essex, as well as the many donors who generously contribute funds to our Windsor Regional Hospital Foundation for many equipment purchases and upgrades.

March 16 2023

COVID-19 Assessment centres to close April 1st

Another milestone in the fight against COVID-19 – as of April 1, 2023, COVID-19 Assessment Centres at Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) and Erie Shores HealthCare (ESHC) will be closing their doors.

The decision comes following a significant drop in the number of patients accessing the centres as COVID-19 numbers continue to trend down. We have now reached a point where volumes are too low to necessitate continued funding of the assessment centres.

“The decision to close the clinics is based on a significant decrease in the number of patients seeking treatment,” says ESHC President and CEO Kristin Kennedy. “It is important to note that COVID is still prevalent in our community, and we urge anyone who feels unwell to continue taking precautions to help limit the spread of respiratory ailments.”

Opened in March 2020 to relieve pressure on emergency departments, the assessment centre at WRH saw nearly 191,000 patients while the ESHC assessment centre treated almost 64,000.

“I want to thank the WRH team for this valuable service during some very difficult times,” says WRH President and CEO David Musyj. “The Assessment Centre was instrumental in meeting the needs of the community during the peak of the pandemic giving residents a much-needed alternative to our emergency department.”

Patients can still receive care for COVID-19 symptoms from local Family Health Team Physicians and Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics as well as primary health providers and walk-in and urgent care clinics in the community.

View a list of alternatives to the emergency department here.

View the most up-to-date testing recommendations, and COVID-19 testing locations or access antiviral treatments here.

Before you are approved for Antiviral treatment:

An appropriate healthcare provider, often a pharmacist, will determine if you qualify.
If you are deemed to qualify for oral Antiviral treatment with Paxlovid, a healthcare provider and pharmacist will review your current medications and determine if any changes to your other medications are necessary to safely take Paxlovid.

You may require additional lab work to review liver and kidney function prior to being approved for treatment.

Find a pharmacy to fill your prescription here.

If you develop severe symptoms requiring medical attention, such as shortness of breath, chest pain, loss of consciousness, or confusion, call 911 or go to the emergency department.

MEDIA RELEASE

March 1 2023

Have COVID, influenza, and respiratory symptoms?

Printable flyers

February 22 2023

Regional health institute marks 3-year milestone of one-of-a-kind Windsor-Essex innovation

Windsor-Essex healthcare and academic institutions are marking three years since they joined together using a one-of-a-kind model designed to elevate health research excellence – an innovative model that has proven to deliver exceptional results.

WE-SPARK Health Institute is an official partnership of Erie Shores HealthCare, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, St. Clair College, the University of Windsor and Windsor Regional Hospital, governed by a Board of Trustees made up of the CEOs of the respective organizations. Its six committees include representatives from across all partner organizations who inform, direct and implement the institute’s strategic priorities of Organizational Effectiveness, Research Excellence, Community Engagement, Knowledge Translation, and Building Capacity.

The seeds of the institute began approximately 13 years ago as a grassroots effort between health researchers and healthcare professionals across the Windsor-Essex region, and after years of planning and consultations, officially launched on March 9th, 2020 during a celebration and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding at the Windsor Club.

In the span of the three years since its launch, WE-SPARK can boast a number of accomplishments. Local health researchers have attracted almost $30M in external funding to the region, included local patients in clinical trials, engaged in almost 700 collaborations, and provided training opportunities for over 1,000 St. Clair College and University of Windsor students on research projects. Through the WE-SPARK grants program, 52 local grants have been awarded totaling almost $1M. The institute holds regular think tanks, conferences and town halls, and publishes newsletters and quarterly and annual impact reports for its many stakeholders and the Windsor-Essex community.

Dr. Lisa Porter, a cancer researcher and distinguished professor at the University of Windsor is WE-SPARK’s executive director, and the visionary behind the institute. The very busy day-to-day operations are run by assistant director Karen Metcalfe, along with a lean but mighty staff.

“Health research has far-reaching benefits,” says Dr. Porter. “It creates an academic culture that attracts and retains the best and brightest in healthcare, keeps our professionals current, supports the best learning experience for students, empowers and educates the community, delivers new therapies, brings in new infrastructure, provides answers to healthcare problems unique to our region, and aids in rapid adoption of the best prevention and care practices. And, data shows that patients treated in institutions that conduct medical research live longer. This is not an advantage that can be reserved for those living only in larger cities: we need and deserve that here in Windsor-Essex.”

On April 20th, WE-SPARK will be hosting its Cheers to Hope event to raise funds for local health research. “We believe that together we can transform health and care of people here in our region” concludes Porter. For more information, please visit: www.cheerstohope.ca.