Latest news with #KathleenCook
CBC
19-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Manitoba spending $6M this year on new plastic health cards that lack features other provinces have
Health minister says people 'overwhelmingly thrilled' by new plastic cards that cost $1.18 per person Manitoba is spending almost $6 million and hiring the equivalent of 20 full-time workers this year to roll out new plastic health cards that replace often frayed pieces of paper, but they lack features found in health cards from other provinces. The new plastic cards have no expiry date and no photo, like the paper cards they're replacing. The new QR code on them isn't currently being used in most health-care facilities — but even if it is, it doesn't provide more information than is printed on the card. Progressive Conservative health critic Kathleen Cook appreciates the plastic cards, but she questions the province's execution. "Government should be looking at all of the different factors that need to be worked in, the different improvements they could make," Cook said. "What concerns me is this just seems like another announcement from the NDP that is long on show and not a lot on substance." $1.18 per card After inviting Manitobans to choose the design of the new health cards, the NDP government began accepting online applications in January to replace the paper IDs, which were prone to ripped corners and faded ink. Since late April, the province has mailed out 208,000 of the more than 394,000 cards has received applications for. It costs $1.18 to produce each physical card — a figure the government only disclosed after CBC News told provincial officials it would report on the government's refusal to disclose the amount of public money being spent. In February, the province responded to a freedom of information request by saying records couldn't be released because it would "reveal the substance of deliberations of cabinet." Then in May, the province said it couldn't reveal the cost for "proprietary reasons," explaining it would violate Manitoba's contract with the company. The new cards maintain some features from the previous paper format, such as the absence of an expiry date. Manitoba and Alberta are the only provinces in Canada in which people don't need to renew their health cards. In a 2015 report, Alberta's auditor general said the lack of an expiry date on health cards leaves them open to abuse, meaning the province could be paying for health care for ineligible recipients. Not requiring people to renew the cards also means Alberta — now the only province still using paper health cards — may not be properly tracking people who leave the province, the report said. Cook said the Manitoba government should have heeded this warning. "I think there was an opportunity here to make an improvement on our health cards." Katie Szilagyi, an assistant law professor at the University of Manitoba, said it is already against the law for patients to misrepresent where they live. "The other question is: how often is this really happening?" she asked. "Are there a huge number of people defrauding Manitoba Health? I'm not aware of that as a huge issue." A new addition to the health card is the QR code, but so far it doesn't do much. QR code repeats info on card Most health-care facilities don't have the code readers yet. Locations with the equipment can use it to scan in the information already printed on the card, such as a patient's name, registration number and personal health identification number, but nothing else. Medical personnel will appreciate not having to jot down that information anymore, Doctors Manitoba president Nichelle Desilets said, but she worries the public will misinterpret what the card can do. "There are going to be people who assume that they can scan that and see access to all of their medical records and their lab results," Desilets said, explaining that technology that exists in other jurisdictions. "Manitoba is not one of those places." Desilets, a family physician in Neepawa, said some patients in the emergency department are surprised she doesn't have immediate access to their charts. The province has vowed to do away with paper medical records in favour of digital documentation, but it hasn't given a timeline. The new health cards are also missing the photos seen on cards in Quebec, Ontario and B.C. The province isn't ruling out that addition in the future. A government website says the new plastic cards are part of a "multi-phased initiative," with options like adding a photo and creating an all-in-one personal identification card — the latter an idea scrapped by the former PC government in 2017 — being reviewed in "future phases." Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara downplayed any suggestions the new health cards will have a short lifespan. "These cards are going to be more and more comprehensive," Asagwara said. Plans include giving every health-care facility a QR code reader and releasing a digital version of the new card, the minister said. An archived version of a government website said the digital card would be available at the same time as the plastic version, but the website now says the digital option is "expected to be completed later in 2025." As of March, the province spent $1.8 million on the transition from paper to plastic cards, which includes the price of the new plastic cards but also mailing and labour costs. An additional $5.7 million is budgeted for this fiscal year. The Health Department has budgeted for the equivalent of 20 full-time staff "due to the addition of temporary positions associated with the implementation of the new Manitoba health cards," budget estimates say. The $1.18 for a plastic health card is less than the $1.67 cost for a plastic COVID-19 vaccination card but higher than the $0.09 cost for a single family paper health card. Asagwara said the government was intentional with the features in the revamped health cards. The QR code is a "safe and secure" method of letting health-care sites digitally scan your personal details, the minister said. The government hasn't heard concerns around misuse of the cards, and removing the address, which was included in the paper cards, saves people from reapplying every time they move, Asagwara said. Manitobans are "overwhelmingly thrilled" by the shift to plastic cards, Asagwara said. "The whole point of going from paper to plastic was to make sure it was durable, it had a long life and that Manitobans can keep that on them, on their person, and use it for health care moving forward."
ABC News
09-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Therapy dogs help reduce pain and anxiety in intensive care, Canberra Hospital study finds
Therapy dog Harry has spent most of his 11 years of life using his unique skills to service the community. He was once an Australian champion show dog, before becoming a therapy dog in 2018, and now works at Canberra Hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Harry is the ideal dog for the role because of his warm, disciplined and deeply attentive nature. The cocker spaniel has also recently participated in a study on the role of therapy dogs in patient care. The five-year research project Harry has been a part of was focused on long-term ICU patients and family members at the Canberra Hospital, examining how interactions with therapy dogs impacted their anxiety levels. Kathleen Cook was the principal investigator for the research project, which she conducted while working as a registered nurse in the ICU. She said she undertook the study because existing research was limited, despite the benefits of therapy dogs being widely recognised. Harry was the original participant in this project, but not the only one. There were a total of five teams, in partnership with Delta Therapy Dogs, who provide volunteers and their dogs as therapy teams for hospitals, workplaces, schools and other facilities. Megan Kelly, Harry's owner, said he was intrinsically motivated to help others. "Oh my goodness — this is the most well-behaved dog I have ever seen in my life," Ms Cook recalls saying when she met Harry. After six months of approvals and testing Harry was ready to go. As part of the study, patients and their visiting family members recorded their anxiety levels before and after being visited by the therapy dogs. Patients also had their vital signs recorded. Researchers found that the therapy dogs helped reduce patient and family anxiety. But they also noted lower levels of pain in the patients. Ms Cook said they had received "amazing" feedback from patients. She also noted the dogs provided patients and their families with a sense of hope of recovery. Nurse Jess Kim works in the ICU and emergency teams at the Canberra Hospital and helps run the therapy program, which is continuing despite the research coming to an end. Ms Kim said the program helped the patients, who often had to undergo invasive procedures, to relax before and afterwards. She said a few weeks earlier, a patient in the ICU had a visit from Harry and immediately remembered the cocker spaniel from a visit to the ICU five years ago. While the patients have benefited, staff have also seen positive impacts. Each shift for a therapy dog is an hour long. Once the dogs head into work, they will sit with a patient, on a chair or on their bed, ensuring that infection control protocols are followed. Sometimes the patients and the dogs head outside to the courtyard to throw a ball or have a run around. Harry's owner Ms Kelly said once he had finished a shift, he usually fell straight asleep in the car on the way home. "It's actually quite draining for dogs to give this much love and care for one hour, so that's why we recommend that it's only ever one hour," she said. Ms Kelly said the volunteers played an important role as "circuit breakers", as she is one of the only non-medical people who come into the ward. "People open up about their home life, their pets and who they're missing back at home and how they want to get better," she said. Ms Kelly said Harry was also a big poser, and patients loved taking photos with him. The program still operates in the ICU at Canberra Hospital, and Harry remains a friendly face waddling up and down the corridors, offering a sense of calm in a stressful environment. Ms Cook said the research has led to the establishment of a similar program at St George Hospital in Sydney and she hoped other hospitals would soon start to follow. Harry also has quite the following on social media, she said. "We have so many direct messages with requests for services in other parts of the hospital, but Harry is solely an ICU dog," she said.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
In the Kitchen with CCE: Rutabaga Soup
TOWN OF DICKINSON, N.Y. (WIVT/EBGH) – We're back in the kitchen with Cornell Cooperative Extension, as nutrition educator Kathleen Cook, prepares a spicy, ginger chicken, rutabaga soup. The featured ingredient, rutabaga, is a distant relative of cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower. Cook starts by adding onions, garlic, and oil to a pot before putting over the stove on a higher heat for about five minutes to soften everything up. She then takes it off the heat and adds the ginger, thyme, salt, pepper, parsnips, rutabaga and chicken broth. Cook says rutabaga are winter vegetables, and they actually taste sweeter if you wait to harvest them until after a frost. 'And because you are using these warm spices like ginger and the garlic and the chili paste, it makes the house smell really good. The onions and so-on with it. And then, the rutabaga really takes on the flavor of those other spices in it. Also, because rutabaga is very high in fiber. It's a very filling and warm dish to have,' said Cook. She says to cook everything for 20 minutes, and roughly halfway, add your chicken. Cook says you should be able to find fresh, locally grown ingredients, including rutabaga, at the Broome County Regional Farmers Market, open weekly, on Upper Front Street. The full cooking demonstration can be viewed below. Department of Education ends student loan repayment plan applications In the Kitchen with CCE: Rutabaga Soup Sunshine returns for the end of the workweek The Addams Family musical at iconic Binghamton locations Mamma Mia! live at Binghamton High School Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
