Each year the Ontario Association of Medical Radiation Sciences (OAMRS) recognizes the committed and hardworking Medical Radiation Technologists (MRTs) and Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (DMSs) in Ontario, through the OAMRS Awards. Nominations for these awards are peer based and a committee of dedicated volunteer members from OAMRS evaluate and select the award winners across multiple categories including the Team Award. This provincial award is presented to a team that exemplifies the importance of working together to achieve fantastic results. It recognizes teams that embrace the spirit of collaboration and working together to provide great patient care.
This year, the Diagnostic Imaging (DI) Team at Lennox and Addington County General Hospital (LACGH) was recognized as the winners of the 2021 OAMRS Team Award. This incredible accomplishment was announced by Greg Toffner, OAMRS President & CEO, at a virtual award celebration on Aug. 18th https://youtu.be/ydJ9Qt7FPEg. Runners up to the Team Award included nominees from Thunder Bay Regional Health Centre, Trillium Health Partners, Toronto General Hospital, The Ottawa Hospital, Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, and Winchester District Memorial Hospital.
“This award highlights that LACGH DI isn’t just a team of technologists, sonographers, clerical staff, IT support, radiologists and management who want to provide good service to the patient population we serve,” Karen Pearson, Director of Imaging Services (KHSC & LACGH), proudly commented. “This award recognizes this is a team of extraordinary professionals who never stop striving to be the best community hospital DI service possible. This team will never sit back and think that today is as good as it gets…they will always be looking and learning how to be better; how to constantly evolve and develop to provide the best DI service possible to the patient population we serve! Continuous quality improvement is how this team thinks every day! This way of thinking and working is one of the key reasons that the LACGH DI team was the 2021 winner of this award and beat out some very strong competition!”
During the 2020 year, in addition to navigating an ever-evolving pandemic environment, the agile DI team worked collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to achieve laundry list of accomplishments including: implementation of a first trimester nuchal translucency screening ultrasound program; successful Bone Mineral Densitometry (BMD) Scanning Accreditation; development of an innovative interprofessional multi-modality Quality Assurance program; and, a post-flood rebuild of about 90% of the department.
“These accomplishments shine a light on the excellence and efficiency of the DI department as an integrated part of LACGH and health care system,” Erin Brown, Chief Diagnostic and Therapeutic Services Officer (LACGH), enthusiastically highlighted. “I am proud to celebrate this team of wonderful people who rise to every challenge and change with positivity, collegiality, and a determination to acquire the highest quality images while making a positive impact in each patient’s care experience.”
Deb Lowry, LACGH Board of Directors Chair, noted that “it is thanks to our generous community that we have been able to equip our Diagnostic Imaging department with state-of-the-art tools, and it is through amazing dedication and teamwork that the LACGH DI Dream Team earned this provincial recognition from OAMRS.”
In celebration, LACGH is hosting a Strawberry Social event at its outdoor courtyard (back of the Hospital) on Sept. 21 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Community members are welcome to attend. RSVPs are preferred and can be made by calling 613.354.3301 x202 or completing this online form which can also be found in the news section of the LACGH website.
In response to this outstanding achievement, Jon Jones, OAMRS Chief Operating Officer, stated “OAMRS would like to recognize and congratulate the Lennox and Addington County General Hospital, Diagnostic Imaging Team on winning the 2021 OAMRS Team Award.”
The OAMRS is a non-profit professional association representing the interests of Medical Radiation
Technologists (MRTs) and Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (DMSs) in Ontario and provides professional
Education programs across Canada. OAMRS is the official voice and advocate for Ontario MRTs and
DMSs and works with government, regulatory authorities and partners to advance the profession.