Photo caption: Desiree, RN in Post-anesthesia care unit and operating room; and Kayla, RN in day surgery and the operating room

For immediate release - Orangeville, Ont. (June 4, 2024) - Headwaters Health Care Centre is responding to health human resources challenges within its own hospital walls by advancing careers of its own surgical nursing team, which consists of 13 Headwaters nurses since the program began in 2022. This is made possible through the provincial Surgical Pathway Fund that supports hospitals to retain and empower health professionals who support surgery patients. There continues to be strong interest in this provincially funded training program, year after year.

In partnership with five hospitals in the North Simcoe Muskoka region, Headwaters developed an in-house education program, designed for Headwaters nurses who aspired to learn specialized skills to work in either the operating room or post-anesthetic recovery room (PACU). The curriculum is equivalent to surgical nurse college requirements and made available at no additional cost to Headwaters nurses. Using this shared curriculum, Headwaters surgical services and clinical education teams have been training its second cohort of nursing staff and running a successful program with full-capacity intakes.

As a result of Headwaters’ investment in surgical nursing career growth, Headwaters surgical services was able to offer more surgical appointments to patients, operating at full capacity with a full team.

This program design is also part of Headwaters’ strategy to retain and advance our highly skilled teams. Headwaters was able to fast-track nurses’ surgical training by 12 months through on-the-job training. Graduates of Headwaters’ program were able to grow their nursing career goals in their current workplace.

Quotations

“Our government is taking action to reduce wait times for surgeries and procedures while increasing capacity to make it faster and easier to access care. Our investment through the Surgical/Diagnostic Imaging Efficiency and Innovation Fund is helping Headwaters significantly increase the number of surgeries performed each week, while reducing wait times, improving the quality of life of more Dufferin-Caledon families, so they can get back to the activities that matter most.”
--Sylvia Jones, MPP Dufferin-Caledon 

“As a Headwaters nurse, I sought out this program internally for personal growth and development. I loved the opportunity to receive flexible, in-house training that works with my current schedule and personal life. I was able to train to become a scrub nurse in Headwaters’ operating room, and I am also being cross-trained on pre-operative day surgery and endoscopy. Now, I’m able to see the full circle of nursing care from investigation, consultation, treatment, surgery and recovery.”
--Kayla Flores, Headwaters Health Care Centre, Registered Practical Nurse who has been working at Headwaters for two years.

“As part of Headwaters’ People Strategy, we empower and engage staff. Seeing our OR and PACU nurses complete our Headwaters training makes me extremely proud of what our talented teams can accomplish. This program is also a testament to Headwaters’ culture of learning and development, which can only benefit patients in high quality, safe care and improved access to services close to home.”
--Frances Duiker, Vice President, People and Culture

“This investment in our surgical teams means Headwaters patients can receive faster care from more highly qualified surgical health practitioners. With the province’s funding, we are aiming high with delivering more surgical procedures to our patients.”
--Alean, Director, Surgical Services, Obstetrics & Ambulatory Care
 

About Headwaters Health Care Centre  

Headwaters Health Care Centre is an innovative hospital located in Orangeville, Ontario dedicated to quality patient-centred care together with our community in Dufferin County-Caledon. In addition to providing acute and complex continuing care with a 24/7 Emergency Department, and extensive Ambulatory Care outpatient services, Headwaters is accredited with Exemplary Standing by Accreditation Canada, certified as a Breast Assessment Centre by the Ontario Breast Screening Program, and will be offering MRI services in 2024.Headwaters is a cornerstone of health and wellness for the communities it serves. It is one of the area's largest employers with over 800 staff, 200 physicians and six midwives and benefits from the dedication of over 200 volunteers.  

 

Learn more at headwatershealth.ca and support the hospital at hhccfoundation.com  

Headwaters is also a proud partner in the Hills of Headwaters Collaborative Ontario Health Team.  

Media Contact 

Valerie Lam-Bentley 
Headwaters Health Care Centre 
vlambentley@headwatershealth.ca 
(519) 941-2410 x2248