Chapter Reports

As I near the end of my term as chair of the B.C. chapter, I have come to realize the true resilience of CHES members. We have experienced a (hopefully) once in a lifetime pandemic and a world of unknown changes to healthcare and our personal lives. While still in the midst of it, I am optimistic the government will continue to lift COVID-19 restrictions and we, as a chapter, can look forward to in-person meetings again.

We are currently planning to hold our spring conference in Whistler, June 5-7. Considering the operational challenges resulting from the pandemic, historic weather events and massive capital investment in healthcare infrastructure over the last year, the theme is Improving Quality through Accountability, Collaboration and Design. Education sessions will encourage a rethink of how we design, construct and operate our facilities to address these obstacles. The keynote address will be given by Brent Kruschel, vice-president of informatics, technology and facilities for Fraser Health.

Nominations for the chapter executive have closed. It has been encouraging to see such great interest from our membership to be involved in CHES. Results will be posted online.

Hospital construction projects are leading the way in the Vancouver area, with $6.76 billion in work either planned or on the books. Projects already underway include St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver — the largest hospital redevelopment project in British Columbia’s history valued at $2.174 billion — and the second phase of the three-phase redevelopment at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster. A $612-million contract has been awarded for the first phase of the $1.4-billion redevelopment of Burnaby Hospital. An estimated $1.66-billion build of a second hospital in Surrey is expected to start in 2023.

To celebrate these and other healthcare achievements, we have established the CHES B.C. Healthcare Award for Outstanding Contribution to Healthcare Engineering. This is a great opportunity to nominate someone you feel has demonstrated outstanding achievement and leadership in healthcare in the province. Further information and the application form can be found on the B.C. chapter page of the CHES website.

—Norbert Fischer, British Columbia chapter chair Due to government COVID restrictions (at time of writing), the chapter executive decided not to offer an in-person conference this spring. However, to ensure our members have educational opportunities, the 2022 CHES Maritime conference has moved to a virtual format. It will be held May 2-3, and be free to all CHES members.

This year’s conference theme is Overcoming Today’s Healthcare Challenges. Current events, such as the pandemic and climate change, have increased demand on already stressed facilities’ support groups. The public depend on us to ensure healthcare infrastructure is strong, flexible, robust and safe. Being aware of mitigation strategies that can be employed to manage changing risks is essential to the resilience of our facilities. With this in mind, the conference will address standards, procedures, processes and the challenges faced by healthcare facilities and how to develop positive outcomes.

Communication expert and award-winning humourist Bill Carr will kick off the conference on May 2, with his keynote address. Carr’s unique blend of humour and insight inspires laughter and consideration, and will ensure delegates are motivated.

Although the virtual conference does not allow for networking with colleagues or discussing new technologies with vendors on a trade show floor, we are confident everyone will take away valuable tools and tips to help provide the very best in care for the people we serve.

As always, one regular Maritime chapter member in attendance will win a trip to the next CHES National conference. This year, CHES is hosting the 27th annual International Federation of Hospital Engineering Congress in Toronto, Sept. 1721, in conjunction with the 2022 CHES National Conference. It will be an exciting event with speakers from around the globe. For more information, visit www.ifhe2022.org. 2022 is an election year for the Maritime chapter. Our annual general meeting will be held on the second day of our spring conference, May 3, at 10 a.m. Positions to be filled for the period June 2022-June 2024 include executive vice-chair, treasurer, secretary, vice-chair Nova Scotia, vice-chair New Brunswick and vice-chair Prince Edward Island.

—Helen Comeau, Maritime chapter chair

Despite COVID still being a huge part of our lives, the Manitoba chapter is forging ahead with planning our inperson spring conference, May 16-17, at the Victoria Inn Hotel and Convention Centre in Winnipeg. The theme is Resiliency in Healthcare Facilities. Keynote speaker Greg Kettner will kick off the event with how to ‘Change your World with Laughter,’ as we all need some laughter in our lives, especially in this day and age. There will be education sessions on topics centred around the ongoing challenges of infection control, water management, extreme heat, clinical outbreaks, loss of utility services and medical gas systems, along with a fantastic trade show and prizes. Manitoban comedian Matt Falk will provide entertainment at the conference banquet where we will honour and hand out the Facilities Management and Project Management awards of excellence for 2021-2022. Nomination forms for both awards can be found on the Manitoba chapter page of the CHES website. The application deadline is April 1.

The CHES journal, Canadian Healthcare Facilities, is looking for article submissions. If interested in contributing a written piece, please reach out to anyone on the chapter executive to assist in getting your article published.

I hope many of you will have a chance to attend the 2022 International Federation of Hospital Engineering Congress in Toronto this September. The congress is being held in conjunction with the CHES National Conference, so there will be a plethora of educational content and added international flair to this year’s event. For more information, visit www.ifhe2022.org.

—Reynold J. Peters, Manitoba chapter chair

Use An RCABC Member It’s Chaos Without Us

SASKATCHEWAN CHAPTER

CHES Saskatchewan had a quiet year in 2021, as COVID-19 continued to occupy the time of key leaders in the organization. The chapter executive met on a few occasions to discuss a number of matters, primarily how we could support members to attend the 2021 CHES National (Virtual) Conference and changes to the chapter bylaws. At present, we continue to work on plans for a chapter conference this fall, to be held in Regina.

This year will be a challenge for the chapter in addressing waning membership numbers and involvement. On the heels of our 2019 conference, the chapter had a strong membership with high levels of engagement. COVID-19 struck shortly thereafter, forcing us to put in-person events on hold. Subsequently, we saw a significant reduction in membership. The chapter executive is currently working to resurrect membership and engagement over the next year in order to be successful. On a positive note, we are sitting in a strong financial position, there is a large number of potential members in the province and it is abundantly clear that CHES membership brings significant value to individuals and organizations.

—Jim Allen, Saskatchewan chapter chair 604-882-9734 rcabc.org

The chapter executive held a meeting in December to strategize how to better deliver CHES events to our members as well as others who wish to attend. In particular, we addressed the spring conference. We are considering incorporating roundtable discussions and lessons learned, keeping in mind the tight time frame to deliver such an event over the course of two days. We are also evaluating whether to move the conference across the province from year to year.

This year’s spring conference will be held in-person May 1516. Vendors are lining up to present. While the theme hasn’t yet been decided, we already have a number of interesting topics planned. Details will soon be posted to the Newfoundland and Labrador chapter page on the CHES website as they become available.

There has been no change in our chapter membership, which is good news given current provincial fiscal challenges. The chapter is actively pushing recruitment on vendors/suppliers, consultants and other healthcare dependents to improve membership enrolment.

As a province, we are in a low. The number of residential and commercial new builds are minimal and projects related to oil and gas are wrapping up. All predictions indicate this will continue for the next two to three years, so expect the status quo moving forward. As a result, it is challenging for people to find funding to partake in such voluntary groups as CHES. Given this, we are looking to support and give back to our membership, and can do so because we are in a solid financial position. As a chapter executive, we wish to invest in the betterment of our members, whether through offering educational opportunities, sending additional members to conferences, paying for more webinars and/or supporting members who take on the role of chair of a national committee.

—Colin Marsh, Newfoundland & Labrador Chapter chair

QUEBEC CHAPTER

The chapter executive is considering a variety of avenues to market CHES Quebec in the province. We are also contemplating adjusting our offerings based on government COVID restrictions.

Looking forward, I invite everyone to seize the opportunity to attend in-person the 2022 International Federation of Hospital Engineering Congress Sept. 17-21, in Toronto. The congress is being held in conjunction with the 2022 CHES National Conference. For more information, visit www.ifhe2022.org.

The CHES journal, Canadian Healthcare Facilities, is looking for article submissions. If interested in contributing a written piece, please reach out to anyone on the chapter executive to assist in getting your article published.

Do not forget to follow us on social media and to regularly check the Quebec chapter page on the CHES website for updates. The Ontario chapter’s primary focus continues to be planning the 2022 International Federation of Hospital Engineering Congress in Toronto, Sept. 17-21. Only a few months remain until we are gathered inperson for what should be an amazing event. The program committee has been extremely busy sorting through all the abstract submissions and finalizing the program. These meetings were very difficult to schedule given we have to accommodate many time zones both in and outside Canada, including Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom. International representatives have participated in either early morning or late night calls, and for that we thank them.

Online registration for the congress is now open. We are expecting large numbers of participants, as we have received a lot of international interest in attending the event. In addition to promoting the congress in the CHES journal, Canadian Healthcare Facilities, it has been advertised in the journals of the International Federation of Healthcare Engineering, Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management (U.K.), Institute of Healthcare Engineering, Australia, and American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE). We are scheduled to have booth space to advertise and promote the IFHE Congress at the ASHE Region 6 Conference in Rochester, Minn., in April, CHES Manitoba conference in Winnipeg in May, CHES B.C. conference in Whistler in June, and 2022 ASHE National Conference in Boston in July.

CHES Ontario’s executive committee continues to meet quarterly via Zoom. My tenure as chapter chair comes to an end this September. At that time, vice-chair John Marshman will assume the role of chapter chair. A spring election will be held for the positions of vice-chair, secretary and treasurer. I encourage everyone to consider running for any open position on the chapter executive.

—Jim McArthur, Ontario chapter chair

CHAPITRE DU QUEBEC

L’exécutif de la section envisage une variété d’avenues pour promouvoir SCISS Québec dans la province. Nous envisageons également d’ajuster nos offres en fonction des restrictions gouvernementales en matière de COVID.

Pour ce qui est de l’avenir, j’invite tout le monde à saisir l’occasion d’assister en personne au congrès 2022 de la Fédération internationale de l’ingénierie hospitalière, du 17 au 21 septembre, à Toronto. Le congrès se déroule en même temps que la conférence nationale 2022 de la SCISS. Pour plus d’informations, visitez le site www.ifhe2022.org.

La revue Canadian Healthcare Facilities, est actuellement à la recherche de propositions d’articles. Si vous souhaitez contribuer à un article, veuillez contacter l’un des membres de l’exécutif de la section pour qu’il vous aide à publier votre article.

N’oubliez pas de nous suivre sur les médias sociaux et de consulter régulièrement la page de la section québécoise sur le site web de la SCISS pour les mises à jour.

CHES SCISS

Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society Société canadienne d'ingénierie des services de santé

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR AWARDS

2022 Hans Burgers Award for Outstanding Contribution to Healthcare Engineering DEADLINE: April 30, 2022

To nominate: Please use the nomination form posted on the CHES website and refer to the terms of reference.

Purpose: The award shall be presented to a resident of Canada as a mark of recognition of outstanding achievement in the field of healthcare engineering.

Award sponsored by

2022 Wayne McLellan Award of Excellence in Healthcare Facilities Management DEADLINE: April 30, 2022

To nominate: Please use the nomination form posted on the CHES website and refer to the terms of reference.

Purpose: To recognize hospitals or long-term care facilities that have demonstrated outstanding success in completion of a major capital project, energy efficiency program, environmental stewardship program or team building exercise.

Award sponsored by

For nomination forms, terms of reference, criteria and past winners www.ches.org/About CHES/Awards Send nominations to CHES National Office ches@eventsmgt.com Fax: 613-531-0626