Theta Chapter Θ
- North of Barrie including the James Bay Coast, West to Sault Ste. Marie, East to Lindsay
Theta Executives 2024-2026
President: Raven Hill
ravenhill@mdrao.ca
Vice President: Vacant
Educator: Vacant
Secretary / Treasurer: Vacant
Past President: Monique Marshall, North Bay Regional Health Centre
Chapter Representative: Raven Hill
Theta Events
Theta Chapter History
THETA Chapter was formed in 1990 so we have been in existence for 25 years. MDRAO prior to that date only had chapters in southern Ontario. Northern Ontario formed the THETA chapter and latter LAMBDA chapter was formed. At the beginning meetings were held once a year in one location and people had to travel up to 6 hours to attend. Attendance at this event was low due to travel costs as our chapter is large in geography covering from Barrie south to Lindsey East, West to Manitoba Border and north to the Sault including the James Bay Coastal area. We held one classroom course per year and it was in one location so cost to attend to applicants in the north was over $2,000.00 due to registration, travel and accommodations. We tried attaching our annual meeting to the education sessions to see if it would improve attendance and offered education at the meeting and this helped in 2005.
In 2009 we were able to start holding our meetings by Ontario Telemedicine so all healthcare facilities in Theta Chapter could register. We then held 4 meetings a year. This increased participation to 20-28 sites registered and 35 to 65 members attending. The format used for these events was a 30 minutes meeting and 1 hour education session with attendance and participation by a questions and answers period at the end. This format continues today with excellent attendance and the ability for our members to communicate. We also started holding our classroom course by OTN with 6 sites and have had from 90-130 students attending. We have reduced sites to 5 which include the host site and we thank the healthcare settings that offer their site and the facilitators at those sites as without them we could not offer these options to keep travel and cost down for our members.
These formats have facilitated education for Medical Device Reprocessing Technicians, Managers and Infection Control Practitioners in the north. This has raised the bar in reprocessing practices and improved patient outcomes.
Membership in our chapter has grown from 35 to 164 over these years due to the ongoing communication, educational opportunities and incentives developed by the chapter. A great networking system is in place to facilitate conversations and assistance to many sites when required.
Meetings, Reports, and Announcements
OTN EDUCATION AND MEETINGS 2018-2019
Dates and Topics:
Wednesday September 19th, 2018 Handling and Care of Hand Held Instruments, Halley Van Muyen (Trudel/Aesculap) – Event #83309255
Agenda
Handheld Surgical Instruments – Presentation
Minutes
Attendance
Wednesday November 14th, 2018 Verifying the Cleanliness of Medical Devices, Christopher D. Stout, ASP-
Event #83309485 Call in #905-415-6669
Agenda
Minutes
Attendance
Presentation
Wednesday February 20th, 2019 Ultrasound Probes, Nanosonic – Event #83309789
Agenda
Minutes
Attendance
Evaluation
Presentation
Wednesday April 10th, 2019 Steam Sterilization – Event #83309854
Agenda
Minutes
Attendance
Presentation
The OTN is open for self registration through your OTN coordinator. Ryan Crozierwill register your site so you must send in your site number and system croziery@hotmail.com
PROVINCIAL ANNUAL MEETING
2020-21 AGM Minutes – March 5, 2021
2019
2018
REPORTS
EDUCATION PRESENTATIONS
OR/SPD Relations
Orthopaedics & Instrument
Timely Reprocessing
Rigid and Flexible Scope Care
Best Practices for Reprocessing Endoscopes
Clean Trace
Detergents – enzymatics
Orthopedics Instruments Care and Handling
Screws 101