Story Posted: 2024-07-08
Hospital Highlights 2023-24: Mission Office & Ethics
From the St. Paul’s Hospital & SPH Foundation 2023-24 Annual Review.
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Mission Office
The Mission Office oversees and supports the programming for Spiritual Care, Spiritual Care Education and the Healing Arts, as well as chairing the work of the Schwartz Rounds and St. Paul’s Hospital Truth and Reconciliation Committee. The Mission Office aims to help staff see the connections between their work and the mission, vision and values of St. Paul’s Hospital.
The Mission Office coordinates events, including our annual Mission Week in October, Project Christmas Angel in December, a Hot Chocolate Cart on “Blue Monday” in January and Community Day in May. When those who come through our doors feel welcomed, especially those who are most in need, we are living the mission of St. Paul’s Hospital and continuing the compassionate legacy of the Grey Nuns.
Healing Arts
Our Healing Arts Team enhances and supports holistic care in our Hospital, creating opportunities where patients, families, community and staff can connect and engage in the creative arts to support health and well-being.
This year, Artist-in-Residence Marlessa Wesolowksi collaborated with the College of Medicine and several cohorts from the Practical Nursing Program at SaskPoly Tech to provide students with unique educational opportunities, including gaining deeper understandings of the mission of the Hospital, our areas of focus, the physiological impacts that arts can have in caring for the whole person, and how to integrate the Healing Arts into patient care. They also had an opportunity to participate in experiential learning by creating a collective art project. Marlessa also chaired the Green Thumb Committee, which included working alongside SPH Cultural Advisor Vernon Linklater and Elder George Laliberte to create and name the Meuopikihitowin Garden, which means “a good place for growing together (knowledge & health)” in Cree.
Adjacent to the cafeteria patio space, the garden contains over one hundred native plants and a traditional Indigenous Medicine Circle, and was planted in collaboration with the Canadian Wildlife Federation. Marlessa continued to build relationships in our community, and collaborated with Common Weal Community Arts, SCYAP and Prairie Harm Reduction Drop-In.
In 2023, the SPH Music Therapy Team offered a monthly “Take 5: Music on the 5th Floor” group, where patients, caregivers and staff joined in music-making together. They hosted a “Take 5” Holiday Party in December that offered music bingo, holiday trivia, hot chocolate and prizes for winners. Music Therapist Lisa Wutch also created the “The 7th Floor Music Club”, which created space for patients and caregivers to gather at the end of the hallway to listen, sing, play instruments, request meaningful songs, socialize and share their hospital experiences.
Music Bingo continued to be a big hit with patients receiving hemodialysis treatment. Bingos were held in May, September and December; more than 150 patients participated in each event with the chance to win wonderful prizes from local businesses.
Spiritual Care and Spiritual Care Education
Spiritual Care offers opportunities for patients, loved ones and staff to find meaning, comfort and spiritual connection in the manner most valuable to them. The Spiritual Care Department also connects patients and their families with a faith group representative of their choice whenever requested, and coordinates milestone events such as weddings, baptisms and memorial services. The Department also facilitates educational events for Hospital staff and learning opportunities for medical students.
In 2023, the Spiritual Care Team was very grateful to partner with the Healing Arts Team to reinstate the Celebration of Life memorial services after the easing of pandemic precautions. These services are held four times each year, and invite families to honour their loved ones who have passed away at St. Paul’s Hospital. The Team also coordinated activities for patients and staff during Spiritual Care Week in October 2023, highlighting the evolving character, professionalism and training of those who work in this field.
Spiritual care providers are trained through a program called CPE (Clinical Psychospiritual Education) that has been offered at St. Paul’s for more than thirty years, and is supported by the Foundation’s Grey Nuns Legacy Fund. This training program supports the development of quality Spiritual Care Providers within faith communities and the broader community. The Spiritual Care staff at St. Paul’s developed their skills through CPE. This year, Spiritual Care Educator Julie Bergen worked with a new CPE Supervisor, Erika Mills, at Santa Maria Senior Citizen’s Home in Regina. This valuable opportunity will extend the reach of CPE in Saskatchewan, ensuring that more students will be able to access this foundational training.
Ethics
Ethics Services plays a large role in providing staff, patients and loved ones with the support they need when dealing with challenging health care decisions. This support is provided through individual consultations, education programs and presentations for wider audiences; for instance, Director of Ethics Dr. Mary Heilman presented on “Advocating for Palliative Care in Challenging Situations” in the February 2024 SHA Ethics Exchange.
Community Support Helps Healthcare Workers Address Bias
The W.F. Mitchell Bioethics Seminar is a keystone annual event made possible through an endowment bequeathed to St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation in memory of the late William F. Mitchell, a local business owner with a strong sense of ethics in both business and community.
This year, the Emmanuel Health Ethics Committee invited Sean Polreis, Teaching and Learning Specialist for Faculty Development in the College of Medicine at the U of S, to give a two-part presentation titled “Unconscious Bias: Self-Improvement Through Awareness” and “Unconscious Bias: Implications for Health Care Delivery.” His reflections on these topics, delivered on November 6th and 7th, 2023 in Pylypchuk Hall at SPH, were offered both in-person and online, and served to develop an understanding of what constitutes bias, as well as to raise individual awareness of personal bias, discuss the ways that bias can influence patient care and talk about how to mitigate its negative impacts as we serve all those in our community.