THETA

Executive 2022-2024

President: Monique Marshall, North Bay Regional Health Centre
monique.marshall33@gmail.com

Vice President: Vacant

Educator: Vacant

Secretary / Treasurer: Sheila Gallant

Past President: Jeffrey Phelps, North Bay Regional Hospital
jeffrey.phelps.jp@gmail.com

Chapter Representative: Sue Ann Miller

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.

MEMBERSHIP

Get all staff and managers to register by September 20th as MDRAO THETA members by going to www.mdrao.ca and the membership tab. You receive newsletters, Theta draws and educational opportunities to keep current. All MDRD staff and managers require ongoing education and this is a great way to do it for $30.00 for technicians and $40.00 for managers. Membership year runs from June 1, 2018 to May 31, 2019 so you have to renew each year. Membership forms are available under the member’s section on the website and can be paid online only.

MEMBERSHIP INCENTIVES:

Theta chapter is offering the following incentives to all 2018-2019 members for this year.

Be a Theta MDRAO 2018-2019 member before September 20th 2018 and your name will be placed in a draw for 2 free conference registrations for MDRAO Annual conference 2019. You must attend 3 OTN education sessions (Sept. 19th, Nov 14th, 2018 & Feb 20th, 2019) to qualify. This includes your MDRAO conference registrations and expenses for gas, meals and room for 2 nights with receipts totaling $1000.00 per winner.
2018-2019 MDRAO members who take the online course and achieve 90% or over will be eligible for the Steris award ($1000.00).
2018-2019 MDRAO Members: Register for the MDRAO refresher course, pass and you could be one of 3 winners for the 3-M award. ($600.00).

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