 Jameson, 2, recovers in the arms of Karen after his pediatric dental surgery at Misericordia. Their recovery time together is more spacious and comfortable thanks to a new recliner made possible by TELUS. A generous donation by TELUS has made the journey for children having pediatric dental surgery more comfortable and less stressful.
Children aged two to seven spend at least an hour recovering from general anaesthetic, often in the arms of their caregivers, after more than 800 pediatric dental surgeries performed at Misericordia each year. Thanks to the support of TELUS, three new recliners, a child recovery bed, and televisions for a recovery area and quiet room, have only improved this experience. Patient-care manager Karen Chojno says the new recliners are wider than the old ones, allowing children to be settled and comforted in the arms of caregivers. “Being in a large health-care facility is new for many of these children and it can be very stressful for them,” said Chojno. “The bed and the wider recliners make their stay with us so much better. It comes down to caring and showing respect for patients and their families.” Along with the new furniture and televisions, the TELUS donation was also able to fund take-home packages which include a toothbrush, toothpaste and a picture book to help children understand their bodies and health care. “The donation is wonderful and has made a real difference for our young patients every day. Thank you!”
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 TCU resident Monica is grateful to have a TV made possible by MHCF donors. Misericordia Health Centre Foundation donors help make lives better in real ways. During the pandemic, their generosity to our COVID-19 Relief Fund gave residents in Misericordia’s Transitional Care Units (TCU) complimentary TV services.
“It has helped with residents being calmed, entertaining them, and when we were closed to visitation it was a source of information of what’s going on outside,” said Joy Arado-Alberto, TCU Resident Care Manager. “I’m very grateful to the donors. It has helped tremendously during these times.” Misericordia’s 111-bed TCU serves patients who require complex social and medical support for a limited period of time before transitioning home with community services or to a personal care home, supportive housing or elsewhere such as Hospice. For TCU resident Monica, the TV has been a way to keep up with the news and help her feel less isolated. “It’s a very nice service, and it helps get away from thinking about illness.” Monica says donating to improve health-care services at Misericordia Health Centre can impact many people. “It’s your neighbours, your family, it’s widespread…I think it’s very commendable. I thank the donors.”  Dr. Jennifer Rahman holds a Tono-Pen—one of two pieces of equipment added to Misericordia’s Eye Care Centre of Excellence thanks to the generosity of donors. Donors contributing to the Fund-a-Need initiative during the Foundation’s InVision event have helped ensure Manitobans receive the best eye care possible at Misericordia with the purchase of a slit lamp camera and Tono-Pen.
Ophthalmologist Dr. Jennifer Rahman, who performs eye surgery at Misericordia’s Eye Care Centre of Excellence (ECCE), says the equipment is vital to quality eye care, especially in a high-volume clinic. A Tono-Pen measures eye pressure, “one of the vital signs of the eye,” Dr. Rahman says, and is used before and after eye procedures and in screening for glaucoma. The newest slit lamp camera provided by the generosity of InVision donors, for the clinical resource team, allows doctors to share high-resolution 3D digital photos of the eye with specialists to help the team triage emergency eye issues and allow the correct treatment to begin sooner. Dr. Rahman says her whole team is grateful to donors. “We couldn’t do our work without them, and we greatly appreciate their contribution and the care and support that they show for our work and for the patients. Investing in the community in this way is so important, for now and the future.” Thank you for giving the gift of adventure! Your amazing outpouring of support ensured that publicity was off the charts for our Around the World campaign earlier this year. Because of this, one lucky resident’s story caught the attention of some movers and shakers in the world of travel. A refresher on that story: To say that Geraldine Anderson likes polar bears is an understatement. The Misericordia Place resident’s room door is adorned with polar bears, she has a polar bear mug, framed pictures of polar bears, a polar bear blanket – you get the idea! Naturally, Geraldine’s dream destination would be to journey throughout the Arctic with special attention to Churchill. Thanks to the amazingly generous teams at Calm Air & Lazy Bear Expeditions, Geraldine’s dreams recently came true! From October 25-28, she adventured in the Arctic, trekking the tundra keeping her eyes peeled for polar bears. We can’t thank her hosts enough for making this incredible opportunity possible – a thought she echoes with her whole heart! I still can't believe this. My whole life I've dreamed of coming to Churchill to see the polar bears and I am so grateful to everyone who made my dreams come true. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you, everyone, for your role in making dreams like this come true. Your support means the world to all of us at MHC!
 MHC Recreation Manager, Jennifer (right) and recreation student, Kevin (left). MHC’s Long-Term Care program was the fortunate recipient of a Winnipeg Foundation Community Grant earlier this year. Thanks to their instrumental support, the acquisition of additional resources, technology, and training materials has truly made an immeasurable impact on the lives of our residents, patients, and caregivers. Since the onset of COVID-19, new and evolving public health directives have often meant our residents have been faced with less one-on-one time with recreation leaders, heightened visitor restrictions, and fewer opportunities for outings. With the guidelines for acute care evolving constantly as the pandemic progresses, programming must evolve along with it – all without losing the therapeutic benefit to the residents and patients. Additionally, family and visitor restrictions have meant the Long-Term Care team has truly become like an extended family for our residents and patients, making these activities all the more meaningful. With a focus on innovation and a person-centered approach, the Long-Term Care team proposed revised programming to make greater use of personalized items (to reduce sharing) and technology to continue providing meaningful activities. In May of 2021, MHC was fortunate to have the assistance of a Recreation student doing a summer placement to assist with the implementation of the revised programming. This allowed our current recreation team members to focus their full energies on residents and patients. In addition to procuring items and creating innovative Therapeutic Activity Kits, our Recreation student was able to plan a training session and create a resource package for Shared Health support workers on how to use the items with residents and patients. Many thanks to donors like the Winnipeg Foundation for making innovations like this possible!
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