RMH Archives — Lindsay Advocate

Lindsay’s Dvine Laboratories retools to make hand sanitizer to fight COVID-19

Published on March 24, 2020 in Business/Health by Roderick Benns

A Kawartha Lakes-based company, Dvine Laboratories in Lindsay, has retooled their manufacturing to begin producing hand sanitizer – up to one million bottles a month if needed.

Three and a half weeks ago, owner of Dvine Laboratories, Mike Meathrel, couldn’t see the point of making the change from their usual e-liquids for e-cigarettes, among other products.

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RMH tests 800 people for COVID-19 so far; paramedics start in-home assessments

Published on March 24, 2020 in Community/Health by Lindsay Advocate

During this challenging time, our team’s primary focus is on COVID-19 preparation. We have seen a significant increase in the need for assessment and testing over the last few weeks, and have been working hard to meet that need.

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Mask quality an issue for local nurses; RMH says public health rules being followed

Published on March 23, 2020 in Community/Health by Trevor Hutchinson

A simple surgical mask or an N95 mask…does it matter what nurses use in the battle against COVID-19?

For the nurses at Ross Memorial Hospital (RMH) in Lindsay, the answer is yes — and some are refusing to work with infected patients without the superior shielding qualities of the N95.

“I feel unsupported and scared,” says a nurse who didn’t want to be identified for fear of job reprisal. She has been working on the newly established COVID-19 floor at RMH.

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First death related to COVID-19 at Ross Memorial Hospital

Published on March 22, 2020 in Community/Health by Lindsay Advocate

RMH in danger of losing hospital status, says OHC: ‘We have to stop this legislation’

The local health unit is reporting the first death in Kawartha Lakes related to COVID-19.

The individual, a man in his 80s, was admitted to Ross Memorial Hospital (RMH) on March 19 after presenting with a high fever and influenza-like illness. Tests were conducted and late on March 21 it was confirmed the man tested positive for COVID-19.

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Second Positive COVID-19 case confirmed in Kawartha Lakes

Published on March 19, 2020 in Health by Roderick Benns

Ross Memorial Hospital received confirmation of a second positive case of COVID-19 in the City of Kawartha Lakes following testing at the Hospital’s assessment centre. It is a female in her 70s, due to travel.

All established precautions were followed during assessment and testing, ensuring the continued safety of patients and the team.

Following testing, the individual was advised to self-isolate while awaiting test results.

This is on the heels of the first case from March 12 after a woman had symptoms after travelling to Germany. The woman had travelled on Air Canada flight 877 from Frankfurt, Germany to Toronto on March 10, 2020.

The patient was discharged home and remains in self-isolation with follow up from the HKPR District Health Unit. Health Unit nurses have been in contact with the woman and are working with her to identify anyone she may have been in contact with while ill.

If anyone who travelled on Air Canada flight 877 on that date develops flu-like symptoms, they are asked to call their local public health unit.

Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge Health Unit (HKPR) is monitoring the case and conducting follow-up with regard to contact management.

For more information, visit HKPR’s website: https://www.hkpr.on.ca/featured_posts/novel-coronavirus/

Ross Memorial Hospital continues to work closely with the Ministry of Health, our regional and local health care partners including HKPR and local hospitals on a coordinated response.

The hospital has put in place several enhanced measures to limit the potential spread of COVID-19 in our community.

For more information about patient and visitor restrictions, and the RMH COVID-19 Assessment Centre, please visit www.rmh.org/covid-19.

Changes to RMH endangers hospitals’ future says OHC: ‘We have to stop this legislation’

Published on March 6, 2020 in Community/Health by Joli Scheidler-Benns

Hundreds of people gathered at a town hall-style meeting last night at the Lindsay Recreation Centre determined to stop Ross Memorial Hospital from becoming anything other than a hospital.

That is, they want RMH’s status as a hospital to remain and not morph into an entity that simply provides “health services” – a danger it may face if proposed special legislation is allowed to pass, according to the Kawartha Lakes Health Coalition and the Ontario Health Coalition.

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Shoulder replacement surgery now offered at RMH

Published on February 10, 2020 in Health by Lindsay Advocate

For those experiencing chronic pain and reduced motion in their shoulder, brushing their teeth, opening a can, and even hugging a loved one can be a challenge.

The answer for some is total shoulder replacement (shoulder arthroplasty). Ross Memorial Hospital has been approved to complete 19 shoulder arthroplasty procedures before March 31.

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X-ray vision: The 2018 Ross Memorial Foundation Holiday Appeal needs you

Published on December 6, 2018 in Around Town/Community/Health/Local News by Trevor Hutchinson

It is perhaps fitting that in a year when many residents spoke up about the importance of having a full-service local hospital that the goal of this year’s Holiday Appeal is for the purchase of diagnostic equipment and to contribute towards the redevelopment of the diagnostic imaging department.

Just over 100 years ago — in 1917 — founding donor James Ross himself donated $2,550 so that the RMH could purchase an X-Ray machine — a machine that only larger hospitals in bigger towns and cities had access to at the time. It was pretty cutting edge stuff for such a small hospital.

Jump ahead 100 years, and our community, through the RMH Foundation, is carrying on that tradition started by James Ross.

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Extra funding to help RMH during holiday surge

Published on November 21, 2018 in Community/Health/Seniors by Lindsay Advocate

The Ross Memorial Hospital (RMH) team is getting another $1,464,000 in one-time funding from the Central East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) to maintain critical system capacity during the regular holiday/flu surge.

Ross Memorial Hospital has been experiencing higher than normal patient volumes for more than 18 months. Over the Christmas holidays, it’s expected volumes will increase again, requiring the Hospital to open extra beds.

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