PRHC Marks First Anniversary of Nerve Catheter Procedure For Knee Surgeries

The Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) has celebrated the first anniversary of introducing an advanced nerve catheter procedure for patients undergoing knee surgery, announced on Thursday.

Earlier this year, PRHC expanded its team of orthopedic surgeons to eight specialists. File Photo.

According to the PRHC, since June of last year, 220 patients have benefitted from the nerve catheter procedure, which involves having a tiny, flexible tube placed under the skin by an anesthesiologist to provide continuous, targeted numbing of the area following their knee surgery.

Benefits of the nerve catheter include:

• Shorter hospital stays – many procedures can now be done on an outpatient basis rather than requiring overnight hospital stays

• Faster and more comfortable recovery

• Avoidance of opioid usage and related complications

• Reduced wait times for knee surgeries – the current wait time for knee surgery at PRHC is now one to two months.

“The nerve catheter allows patients to recover in the comfort of their own home and provides better pain control after the operation, because the nerve block lasts several days,” says Dr. Carla Henderson, PRHC Anesthesiologist. “Orthopedic surgeons can now offer same-day surgeries with these catheters, which means that we can do more operations and have shorter wait times for patients.”

“I have been telling everybody that if you have this operation, get this catheter,” said Elwyn, PRHC knee replacement patient. “I was expecting pain, I was expecting some sort of symptom from drugs that you take for pain, and because of the catheter, I had none of that.”

PRHC is currently the only hospital between Kingston and Durham that provides this service to patients.

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PRHC For Third Straight Year Awarded Highest Possible Standing By Accreditation Canada

Accreditation Canada has recognized the Peterborough Regional Health Centre for achieving Accreditation with Exemplary Standing – the highest possible designation for an accredited organization for a third consecutive time since 2017, announced on Thursday.

File Photo.

Every four years, a team of Accreditation Canada surveyors evaluates more than 2,700 standards for quality, safety, and efficiency at PRHC. Following a visit in April, PRHC received the designation as an ‘organizations that go beyond Accreditation Canada’s requirements and demonstrate excellence in quality improvement.’

“It’s a direct result of the hard work and dedication of every leader, healthcare professional, employee, volunteer and experience partner at PRHC that we’ve achieved this designation again in 2026,” said Dr. Lynn Mikula, PRHC president and CEO. “While we have continued to experience a number of systemic challenges, I’m incredibly proud of the work our people have done to set PRHC apart as a leader in transformation, adaptation and innovation among our hospital peers.”

According to a press release, the on-site survey team explicitly commended PRHC for its strong alignment with service excellence standards; consistent emphasis on people-centred care and interdisciplinary collaboration; focus on clear communication practices, such as regular huddles and structured patient handovers; and its strong education and competency development, supported by engaged clinical leadership and meaningful partnerships that strengthen transitions across the care continuum.

“It is my absolute pleasure to congratulate and thank everyone at PRHC for their unwavering commitment to ensuring that our patients receive the best possible care and support at every step of their care journey,” said Mikula. “This is a well-deserved achievement for everything you do, and a reflection of the qualities that make this such a remarkable team – here when you need us most.”

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Trent University and PRHC Partner For Healthcare Advancement In Peterborough

Trent University and Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) are partnering to advance healthcare with a new agreement outlining plans to enhance interdisciplinary research activity, leadership training, applied learning and career opportunities and student volunteer opportunities, announced on Thursday.

Photo courtesy of Trent University.

“This agreement strengthens Trent University’s collaboration with PRHC, creating new opportunities to engage in research, share expertise, and drive meaningful impact in healthcare,” said Dr. Cathy Bruce, Trent president and vice-chancellor. “The collaboration is about more than formalizing our work together—it’s about opening doors to new longer-term projects, securing critical funding, expanding hands-on learning for students, and scaling innovations that will help shape the future of healthcare in our region and beyond.”

“At Peterborough Regional Health Centre, we’ve made a strategic commitment to building our teaching and research focus, and our long-standing partnership with Trent University is key to moving this work forward,” said Dr. Lynn Mikula, PRHC President and CEO. “By cultivating our research and innovation partnerships, PRHC will strengthen the patient care and support we offer at our regional hospital for years and decades to come, and offer expanded and enhanced educational opportunities for students pursuing careers in healthcare and related fields.”

As outlined in a new memorandum of understanding (MOU), Trent and PRHC will work together on various initiatives highlighting the two institutions' strengths, including research, leadership development and experiential learning for post-secondary students, according to Trent.

Key areas of collaboration include:

• Research collaborations to tackle pressing health issues – including diabetes and seniors’ care – and expand eligible funding sources for both Trent and PRHC

• Development of data infrastructure and data governance to support seamless and secure knowledge exchanges between healthcare professionals and academic researchers

• Undergraduate and volunteer experience in the hospital for Trent students

• Development of micro-credentials on healthcare leadership

• Adjunct teaching opportunities PRHC staff to serve as adjunct instructors and clinical mentors at Trent

• Sustainability and energy initiatives that help both institutions progress toward reduced environmental footprints

“This is just the beginning of this new avenue of collaboration, and we look forward to sharing more stories and outcomes from the work we do together in the coming months and years with the Peterborough community,” said Julie Davis, vice president, External Relations & Development.

"When strong partners such as PRHC and Trent University work together, supported by their community donors, so much more becomes possible. This is an exciting new example of collaboration and collective efforts fuelling innovation and progress that will help us reimagine what healthcare looks like in our region and create a healthier, stronger community for all,” said Lesley Heighway, president, PRHC Foundation.

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Peterborough Regional Health Centre Introduces First Baby of 2025

Loretta Shaughnessy and Ryan Heise welcomed their baby boy Maverick Raymond Heise into the world on Wednesday at 2:04 a.m. as the first baby of 2025 delivered at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre.

Photo courtesy of PRHC.

Maverick weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. Both he and his mother are doing well after the pregnancy. Maverick will have Florence, his older sister to look forward to.

“We can’t say enough about the incredible care we received from the nurses and doctors here,” said Loretta about delivering Maverick at PRHC. 

Her sister — a Labour and Delivery nurse at PRHC — was off-duty and able to attend during the birth as a support person.

Maverick’s middle name is from Loretta’s grandfather, Ray Lowery, who passed away shortly after the couple found out they were expecting. 

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PRHC Names Cardiac Centre After James Neill Who Donated $5 Million, Largest Contribution in Hospital's History

James "Jim" Neill has been immortalized in Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) history as the Cardiac Centre has been named after him after he made a $5 million donation in a sign-unveiling ceremony on Thursday afternoon.

Photo by Samantha Bianco.

The donation is in support of cardiac care and was given back in 2021. The sign was revealed at the exterior northeast corner of the hospital, naming it the James B. Neill Cardiac Centre.

Neill had ‘no idea’ that it was the largest donation PRHC had ever received when that information was made known to him.

“To have my name on the side of the building, to see it associated with such an outstanding hospital and such exceptional and talented healthcare professionals, is a great honour,” said Neill. “It’s my hope that when patients, visitors and staff look up and see it, they’ll be encouraged and inspired to support their hospital in whatever way they can, much as the donors who came before inspired me.”   

Photo by Samantha Bianco.

PRHC and its foundation Foundation members were present with Neill, his family and friends at the ceremony to commemorate the event. The former expressed their gratitude to Neill for his generous donation.

“Mr. Neill is saving and improving the lives of thousands upon thousands of present and future patients and for that, as well as the inspiration his donation will provide to so many, we’re incredibly grateful,” said Lesley Heighway, PRHC foundation president and CEO.

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Registration For Peterborough's 22nd Dragon Boat Festival Opens This Wednesday

It’s paddles up for Little Lake as registration for the 22nd Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival opens this Wednesday at midnight.

To date, the festival has raised over 3.9 million dollars. File Photo.

This year’s event takes place on June 10 at Del Crary Park and features Dragon Boat Races, artisan and food vendors, Family Fun Zone, a beer garden and more according to a press release.

“I am thrilled to once again work with an amazing group of volunteers,” said Michelle Thornton, festival chair. “We continue to work hard to fulfill our motto of ‘Making a Difference One Race at a Time’ by raising money to help fund world-class breast and other cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC).

Proceeds of the 2023 Festival go towards PRHC to invest in cancer care equipment and technology. Examples include minimally-invasive surgical tools and a second cutting-edge MRI machine.

“We’ve always focussed on breast cancer awareness and raising funds for the Peterborough Regional Health Centre’s (PRHC),” said Ann Stabler, Dragon Boat team president. “We know firsthand the importance of PRHC’s continuing mission to bring the best cancer care the world has to offer, right here to our hospital. With community support, the hospital will be able to serve more patients, support earlier cancer diagnosis, and ensure safer, more effective treatment, close to home.”

Lesley Heighway, PRHC Foundation President & CEO says she’s grateful to everyone who helped the Festival thrive over the years.

“Cancer volumes are on the rise and the number of patients from Peterborough and the surrounding area who receive treatment at PRHC has grown significantly,” she said. “PRHC’s ability to provide expert, compassionate cancer treatment depends on having state-of-the-art equipment and technology.”

The first three teams to register earn a free extra practice in a dragon boat on Little Lake.

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Two Partnerships Lead To Increase In Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams For Peterborough Police

Three Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams are working in the communities of Peterborough, Lakefield and Cavan-Monaghan after the Peterborough Police Service entered two partnerships announced on Thursday.

(Mental Health Nurse D. Forsyth (front) with (fron left to right) Constable J. Rye; Constable J. Morris; Mental Health Worker M.Faught (CMHA); Mental Health Worker A. Swift (CMHA); Constable S. Leavitt) at the Peterborough Police Station. Photo courtesy of Peterborough Police Service.

The partnerships are with Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (CMHA HKPR) and Peterborough Regional Health Centre PRHC) according to a press release.

In each case, a mental health worker, nurse or social worker is partnered with an officer to respond to crisis incidents and to follow up on cases where their services may help.

“As a service, we have been working extremely hard with our community partners to put the funding and people in place,” says Inspector Jamie Hartnett, Operations, Peterborough Police. “The Service understands and believes in the success these partnerships can have for our community. They are making a difference.”

“We are extremely grateful for the Partnership with Peterborough Police Services over the past 12 years through the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team. This model has proven successful and we are excited that the team is expanding to include more skilled community partners, like PRHC,” said Mark Graham, CMHA HKPR CEO.

“Partnerships like these are absolutely vital, and we are so pleased to be working closely with Peterborough Police Service and CMHA to provide community-based care, when and where it is needed, for people who are experiencing a mental health crisis,” said Sean Martin, PRHC Vice President. “Among many other important benefits, the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team model has been shown to reduce the number of patient visits to the hospital’s emergency department and crisis response unit.”

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Peterborough Regional Health Centre Seeking New Board of Director Members

Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) is seeking individuals to become members of the Board of Directors announced on their website on Monday.

File Photo.

The Board Members are seeking members who are the following:

• reside in one of the four counties of Peterborough, Northumberland, Haliburton and Kawartha Lakes

• reflect the diversity of their changing community

• can bring volunteer Board experience and business/professional skills to our governance processes.

Duties of Board Members include:

• Governing the affairs of PRHC in line with best practices in the sector

• Advancing PRHC’s vision, mission and values

• Valuing and embracing anti-oppression, anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion practices and principles within its governance processes

• Committing to continuously building a truly inclusive and safe organization at every level

• Supporting the implementation of the 2024-2027 Strategic plan and ensuring that all decisions are made in accordance with the Plan

• Reviewing and approving PRHC’s Annual Operating Plan

• Provide oversight to quality of care

• Fosters regional relationships needed for seamless care

All applications are welcome, particularly from anyone with a background in clinical (professional staff and allied health included), human resources, patient/family experience, construction/facility management and quality of care according to the PRHC.

Applications and resumes are due by Feb. 17 and can be sent to the Chair, Nominating Sub-Committee, c/o Margaret Clark, Senior Executive Assistant, Administration, Peterborough Regional Health Centre, One Hospital Drive, Peterborough, ON, K9J 7C6 or email mclark@prhc.on.ca

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PRHC Emergency Department Pressured With Max Bed Capacity and Staffing Shortages; Urge Patients to See Other Clinics If Possible

The Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) is experiencing heavy pressure having to operate with staff shortages, deal with constant maximum in-patient capacity and have COVID-19 outbreaks announced in a Zoom conference on Thursday morning.

There were 191 patients admitted to PRHC on July 17 which is considered a high number. Photo by Luke Best.

Dr. Lynn Mikula, chief medical executive and chief of staff issued says the pressure has been ongoing for a number of months that preceded the pandemic but COVID-19 has made the situation more serious.

“We are seeing higher patient acuity meaning that more people who come to the emergency department (ED) are sick enough to need admission to the hospital,” she said.

On July 17, PRHC reported that 191 patients needed to be admitted which is a high number according to Dr. Mikula. She continued saying last month would on average take a person eight hours from entering the ED to departure.

Dr. Mikula urges incoming patients to seek other forms of medical attention that can be treated outside the ED if possible but PRHC will not redirect patients if they deem an ED trip is not necessary.

She suggests using Telehealth Ontario to triage the severity of a condition to go to the emergency room or seek an alternative form such as a family doctor, walk-in clinic or virtual clinic.

“As a general rule of thumb, I think people know if they’re really ill,” she said. “If it’s a more mild condition that you would see your family doctor for, even if you can’t reach your family doctor, explore some of those other options.”

When questioned if Monkeypox has played a role in the contributing pressure, Dr. Mikula said it was an ‘evolving situation,’ they are not yet affected but will notify the public if and when it does.

PRHC has been dealing with staff shortages, especially in the nursing department but is also hiring ‘basically everybody’ according to Dr. Mikula. Roles include technologists, allied health staff and environmental and accountants.

As of June 2022, PRHC had a total of 275 vacancies with a 9.25 per cent vacancy rate for all hospital positions according to Michelene Ough, PRHC director of communications.

“Like other hospitals, we also have ongoing staffing shortages, said Dr. Mikula. “This has required us to focus our limited ED resources where they are most needed. The hospital is very full, operating at or above 100 per cent of its in-patient bed capacity.

On June 5, 2019, the provincial government imposed Bill 124 that wage-suppressed healthcare workers to only a one percent increase over three years. Dr. Mikula suggests that the bill partially affected the shortage but says they need a whole “coordinated system response” to help rectify the problem.

COVID-19 has been a contributing factor to the occupied bed capacity. PRHC reported an outbreak from two patients as of Wednesday and holds 18 people total who are infected with the infamous virus.

Dr. Mukula assured the public that PRHC is prepared in case of another COVID-19 wave or strain hits Peterborough.

“We continue to have our incident management system monitor COVID-19, meet regularly, look at the infection control measures and the other measures that we have in place. We’re ready to scale them up if needed,” she said. “I would say if that’s one thing the last two years have taught us, it’s that we need to be prepared to manage another wave at any time and there are a lot of people who are predicting another wave in the fall so ready and we’re waiting.”

PRHC stated they have explored several recruitment avenues such as the international nurse graduate program to help fill the void. They have been actively recruiting nurses during their pressured months.

“The problem is that every other hospital in Ontario is doing exactly the same thing so we’re all basically competing now for a limited pool but not only nurses but technologists and all the other support staff,” said Dr. Mukula.

Last fall, the federal government imposed mandatory vaccines for healthcare workers at the risk of losing their jobs for anyone failing to comply.

Mukula estimated over 95 per cent of healthcare workers were vaccinated at the time of the mandate and PRHC enforces a policy where all current employees are vaccinated.

“That is not one of the factors that have landed us in the staffing shortages situation we are facing today,” said Dr. Mukula.

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Over $3.4 Million Invested Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Expansion of Eating Disorder Support and Services

Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) is receiving $3,409,974 from the Ontario Government as part of its $572.3 million investment to reimburse hospitals across the province for their lost revenue during the pandemic announced Friday.

Ontario has a total of 2,436 adult and pediatric ICU beds. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The announcement was made in a Zoom meeting with MPP Dave Smith and Brenda Weir, PRHC Executive Vice President.

A one-time payment of $1,000,000 is included to immediately address the increased demand for services to support specialized care for children and youth diagnosed with eating disorders according to Smith.

“The pandemic worsened the challenges we face in health care and mental health supports after years of neglect and underfunding,” MPP Dave Smith said. “A $4,409,974 investment builds on our work to address hallway medicine, expand mental health services and ensure people in our community get the care they need,”

The program will focus on those up to the age of 24.

“The social isolation with the pandemic definitely has impacted how people have coped. Social isolation for any child or teen is significant as part of their development,” said Brenda Weir, PRHC Executive Vice President.

This funding is part of the province’s overall investment of over $1.2 billion to help hospitals recover from financial pressures created and worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hospitals have felt financial challenges not only through direct costs, but also through the loss of other forms of revenue such as co-payments for private rooms and the reduction of retail services, all of which contribute to patient care and support clinical services according to the press release.

“While the pandemic funding will help to offset the significant financial burden we have seen at the hospital as a result of COVID-19, the additional investment into PRHC’s Eating Disorders program will help us to address a dramatic increase in the need for this important service for youth in our community and region,” said Weir.

The investment in eating disorder supports and services is part of the 2021 Fall Economic Statement which allocates $8.1 million this year to immediately address the increased demand for services to support specialized care for children and youth diagnosed with eating disorders.

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