Hotel Dieu Hospital, Kingston, ON

Hotel Dieu Hospital closures for Family Day, Feb. 20

All booked clinics and the Pediatric Urgent Care Clinic will be closed on Family Day, Feb. 20. Our Urgent Care Centre is open 8 am to 10 pm.

For medical emergencies, please select the most appropriate option:

Life-threatening illness/injury: Emergency Room, Kingston General Hospital, 24 hours/day 365 days/year.
Minor illness/injury that cannot wait for a family doctor: Urgent Care Centre, Hotel Dieu Hospital, 8 am – 10 pm, 365 days/year.
24-hour access to a Registered Nurse: Telehealth Ontario, 1-866-797-0000.

Patients should ensure prior to the holiday period that they have sufficient prescription medication.

New hoarding signals next phases of construction project

New hoarding (a temporary barrier that encloses construction work) is going up in the hospital in February as building crews get set to launch construction and renovation work in two new areas of the hospital.

Hoarding in the main lobby will block off the Gift Shop so crews can begin renovating it to help make way for exit doors to the new Johnson elevator tower/stairwell. Also in the works is a nearby coffee kiosk to serve individuals who want to grab a quick coffee or cold drink. This portion of redevelopment is expected to wrap up in May.

As of Feb. 15, the Gift Shop will be temporarily relocated to Jeanne Mance 5 (just follow the signs off the main elevator) and will be open regular hours (9 am to 4 pm, Monday to Friday). For the convenience of patients, visitors and staff, hospital volunteers will also operate a small satellite gift shop in the lobby to sell cold drinks and confectionary items. In mid to late February, hoarding will be installed on the Brock 4 corridor to facilitate construction of a Pulmonary Function Testing Lab, expected to be finished July 2012. This new lab space will accommodate clinical services in support of the diagnosis and monitoring of various respiratory conditions such as asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

And construction hoarding remains in place on Johnson 1 as work crews install entrance/exit doors for the new elevator tower. Access to the hospital auditorium, however, is still possible via Johnson 0 (take the elevator or stairs to Level 0 and follow signs).

Overall, the construction phase of Hotel Dieu’s $20 million redevelopment project remains on schedule for completion by the end of 2012. Construction of new clinic space on Jeanne Mance 4 is now 50 per cent, and on Jeanne Mance 5, construction is 35 per cent complete.

Glaucoma under the lens at Feb. 28 public panel

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. This disease progresses painlessly and often without symptoms, making it difficult to detect until the damage is permanent. The exact causes of glaucoma are not clearly understood and there is no cure.

On Tuesday, Feb. 28, join the Café Scientifique Panel as they discuss the different types of glaucoma, how it is diagnosed and how research may lead to new and improved treatments for glaucoma patients. The Panel runs from 7-9 pm at Confederation Place Hotel, 237 Ontario St. (at Brock).

The panel features members of the Department of Ophthalmology at Hotel Dieu Hospital, Kingston General Hospital and Queen’s University:

Dr. Sherif El-Defrawy Chair, Department of Ophthalmology
Dr. Robert Campbell, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen’s University
Dr. Delan Jinapriya, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen’s University.

Café Scientifiques are community events about the latest ideas and issues in science and technology in an informal setting. It’s not a lecture! It’s a place for group discussion—and your involvement is the most important ingredient. All community members are invited and refreshments will be served.

To RSVP or for more information: nanci@channel3communications.ca
Click here to view/download the poster for this event

Keeping an eye on deadlines

The application deadline is fast approaching for training at the Kingston Ophthalmic Training Centre at Hotel Dieu Hospital, a program that is unique in Canada for offering two arms of training to those eager to work in the ophthalmic environment.

The first arm of training is at the ophthalmic technician level, a 12 month full-time program that provides students with the required knowledge and skills to fully integrate into an ophthalmology practice as an ophthalmic technician. The second arm of training—ophthalmic medical technologist—requires an additional 12 months of training focusing on advanced ophthalmic diagnostic procedures.

Graduates of both programs are immediately eligible to secure employment with an ophthalmologist in private practice, for a group of ophthalmologists, or for a hospital with an ophthalmology department or clinic.

Applications for the ophthalmic technician program are being accepted as of 2 April, 2012, with an application deadline of 25 May 2012. Interviews will be held 28 May – 1 June 2012, and class selection takes place 8 June 2012. The programs start 13 August 2012. For more details, click HERE.

How can I prevent travellers’ diarrhea?

Mary Wilson, HDH Pharmacist replies: You can be affected by travellers’ diarrhea anywhere in the world, but it’s especially common in those travelling to developing areas including Mexico and some parts of the Caribbean.

Travellers’ diarrhea is caused by many different bacteria, the most common of which is enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC). You can get travellers’ diarrhea by eating food or drinking water that is contaminated. It can spread easily from person to person. Travellers’ diarrhea normally lasts about 3 days. A mild case can cause you to feel unwell for a few days while a severe case could leave you spending part of your vacation in bed.

To avoid spending your holiday in the bathroom you should not drink tap water or drinks with ice cubes/crushed ice.

Also skip fruits that can’t be peeled, uncooked veggies (including salad), undercooked raw meat/fish, unpasteurized/unrefrigerated dairy products and food sold by street vendors.

Wash your hands frequently with soap and clean water, or use hand sanitizer.

You can also consider taking an oral vaccine called Dukoral that protects against travellers’ diarrhea caused by ETEC. A full immunization requires 2 doses taken 1 week apart, with the last dose at least 1 week before travel. The protection lasts 3 months.

You can talk with your pharmacist about the vaccine, or consult the Travel Clinic at KFL&A Public Health 613-549-2335. More information about travel health can also be found on the Public Health Agency of Canada’s website

Porch Light Campaign

Be a guiding light to a youth looking for a home! Purchase a compact fluorescent light bulb to shine this coming Family Day (Monday, Feb. 20) and help the Kingston Youth Shelter purchase a new furnace.

The brainchild of the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) program at St. Lawrence College, the Porch Light Campaign is fundraiser geared to raising awareness about homeless youth and to raising funds to upgrade the Youth Shelter’s furnace.

“We currently have an oil furnace with an underpowered pump, which makes it hard to get adequate heat to the upper floors of our building,” says KYS Director Jason Beaubiah. “We’re aiming to upgrade to a gas furnace that distributes heat better and is more energy efficient. It will cost between $9,000 and $14,000.”

The CFL bulbs are for sale at $10 each and can be purchased at the Kingston Youth Shelter, 234 Brock St. or by contacting staff@kingstonyouthshelter.com. And, on Feb. 20, the community is being asked to leave on the porch light as an expression of support for homeless youth everywhere.

A new vision of winter

This season’s extremes in weather are caught in the latest Students’ Art Gallery exhibit, which opened on Feb. 13 at Hotel Dieu Hospital. When you walk down the gallery hallways, be prepared for a wintry mix of conflicting conditions, impressions and emotions.

The latest exhibit, called Winter Re-visioning, boasts more than 100 potent images that capture the raw, rugged beauty of our Northern landscape and the capricious force of nature. The artwork is the enthusiastic response to the volatile season by students as young as Junior Kindergarten attending schools in the Limestone Board of Education, the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board and independent after-school programming.

The impressive show featuring a variety of media winds its way in the hallway adjacent to the Children’s Outpatient Centre and through the Child Development Centre.

Every year, close to 50,000 people walk through the gallery, where new exhibitions of paintings, drawings and multimedia constructions are installed three times annually. To learn more about the gallery or to view all the exhibitions click here.