NHS Champions
Every day hundreds of Niagara Health System employees, doctors and volunteers make a real difference helping those in their local communities and far abroad through their volunteer work and other extraordinary efforts. We would like to take this opportunity to tip our hats to our NHS champions for all that they do to help others. Check out our Champions.
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Joe Seliske
NHS staffer Joe Seliske, Pharmacy Manager at Welland Hospital Site, Pt. Colborne General Site and Douglas Memorial Hospital Site, marked a milestone which very few people achieve. Joe gave his 100th blood donation on Feb. 28/08!
"It all started in 1980 at University Hospital in London (ON)," Joe recalls. "A pharmacist colleague compelled me to give for the first time at an in-house mobile blood donor clinic. I had never given blood before, despite being the ripe old age of 24, so, after calling me a wimp, he dragged me to the donor clinic. There, I was phlebotomized for the very first time, making me no longer a blood-donor virgin."
After that experience, Joe would drop in to the permanent blood donor clinic in London from time to time. "However, it was after I moved to Welland in 1986 that my donations became more regular," Joe says. "The four-times-a-year, then five-times-a-year and now six-times-a-year schedule seemed to be the easiest for me. A number of other NHS staff members are on the same schedule and we meet at the clinics every other month. I also see people from the community who I have known for years, simply because we meet at the clinics. We who work in hospitals know the urgent need for blood products and Canadian Blood Services is constantly under pressure to keep the supply flowing. I encourage everyone who is eligible to make a donation, to save a life. It's in you to give!"
Congratulations Joe on your commitment!
Mike Dodge
Mike Dodge, an Orderly for the Surgical Department at the St. Catharines General Site, has been vacationing in Jamaica for the last 20 years and always packs a few extra suitcases.
For months in advance of each trip, Mike fills the extra suitcases with medical supplies and equipment donated by local companies in the healthcare field and then personally delivers them to hospitals and clinics in Jamaica, where supplies are badly needed and gratefully received.
Audrey Grant, CEO, Savanna-la-Mar Hospital, Jamaica, receiving medical supplies from Mike Dodge
"I enjoy helping people and it's a great feeling to share your talent," says Mike. "There is no harm in a smile and helping hand."
A smile and a helping hand is something Mike is well known for by hospital staff, doctors and patients alike. His zany collection of hats is a trademark, and he is often seen on the job wearing a comical hat that brings smiles from all, in particular the young patients he shuttles to and from surgery.
In 2006, Mike was nominated by his peers and received the NHS Award of Excellence for "Compassion, Professionalism and Respect" in recognition of his commitment to making a difference in the lives of others. This dedicated NHS champion sums up his motivation with these words, "It's an awesome feeling when you help people."
Mike, you're a champion!
Pam Mackie
Pam Mackie, an Administrative Assistant at Douglas Memorial Hospital Site in Fort Erie, is also a certified personal trainer (Can-Fit-Pro) with a passion for physical fitness. She has kindly volunteered her expert services to run free one-hour fitness classes for staff once a week at two NHS sites – Douglas Memorial and Greater Niagara General Site in Niagara Falls. Between 10 and 20 staff members attend each Pilates-style class.
Although the cost is free, Pam asks staff to donate a dollar each class to the Niagara Health System Foundation's It's Our Time Campaign. With the assistance of the NHS Quality of Worklife department, Pam has initiated our very first NHS fitness services contract agreement – signed September 2007.
Pam is a real trail-blazer!! She has a real zeal for fitness that is hard to match and lucky for everyone she is inspired to share and help others to get fit. She is an inspiration for others - a new process and tools are in place now so that others may follow her leadership in employee wellness and fitness.
This is a win-win situation in which staff get an extremely affordable work-out session conveniently located at their workplace and the Foundation garners a donation stream towards its current $40 million campaign.
Thank you Pam for making all this possible! You're a champion!
Dr. Surianarayanan Rammohan
Congratulations to Dr. Surianarayanan Rammohan, a vascular surgeon from Niagara, who is being recognized by McMaster University for excellence, initiative and commitment as a part-time faculty member of the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Dr. Rammohan is the Medical Director of Clinical Teaching Programs for the Niagara Health System (NHS). He is also an associate clinical professor in the Department of Surgery at McMaster, supervising McMaster surgical residents since 2000.
Dr. Rammohan is an NHS champion for many reasons, the most recent being his selection by the University as the 2007 co-recipient of the prestigious John C. Sibley Award.
Deeply committed to the education of health professionals, Dr. Rammohan is acknowledged by his colleagues for his remarkable contributions and leadership. He has been at the core of educational initiatives within the NHS and has been a "champion" in very real terms.
Dr. Rammohan has been influential in the establishment of the Niagara campus of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, which is slated to accept its first students in September 2008.
He was instrumental in establishing the Surgical Clinical Teaching Unit at the St. Catharines General Site of the NHS. Dr. Rammohan was also involved in setting up clinical teaching units in internal medicine and obstetrics in Niagara for McMaster's undergraduate MD students, and he is now assisting with the development of a pediatric teaching unit.
Dr. Rammohan has provided many seminars, formal teaching sessions and countless hours of bedside teaching to ICU and surgery nursing staff at the NHS. He is a frequent presenter at NHS Teaching Rounds that are open to all health-care disciplines.
In addition to all of these important educational endeavours, Dr. Rammohan is a skilled and accomplished vascular surgeon.