Quarterly Newsletter
July 2022
A Message from
LYN BALUYOT, CEO

Using a Vision Board

A practice that I have adopted over the years I want to share with you is rather than making New Year’s resolutions, I pick two words to focus on for the coming year.  After all, nearly 80% of people admit to abandoning their New Year's resolutions by February, according to Forbes magazine.  I speak from experience, as I have been known to break a New Year’s resolution or two over the years! With this new approach, what I have found is that selecting meaningful words to help guide my every move keeps me grounded and focused on the year ahead.  And this couldn’t be more true this year as I transition to my new role as TransForm's CEO.

So, what are my two words for 2022?  Grace and Authentic.  Let me explain.

I chose the word ‘grace’ because everyone deserves the opportunity to try new things, grow, make mistakes, learn and move on. Oftentimes we are willing to give grace to other people in our lives—our families, friends, and colleagues, but we often don’t give it to ourselves. So, I intend to give myself the gift of grace that I so willingly give to others.  Doing this will give myself permission to make mistakes when trying something new, to learn and to grow.

I chose ‘authentic’ because I have found in my career, that as people move into various leadership roles, they often fall into a practice of “what is expected” of them versus what feels true and authentic.  My goal is to remain true and authentic to my style, my values and myself as I grow into my role as CEO. 

To sum up what my selected words mean as CEO for TransForm and my interactions with our customers: I want to emphasize respect for myself and for others; and for everything I do to be approached with integrity. This means that my leadership style will embody care over competition, rewarding success and establishing a culture that celebrates individuality in a safe and supportive environment where we can all grow and learn from each other….and yes, even learning from our mistakes.

So, if you’re tired of resolutions that don’t last, try this approach and see how it can change your mindset and set you up for success.  And if you want to go one step further, create a digital vision board, print it out as I have to be your constant reminder of how you want to live by your two words, whatever they may be.

TransForm's own Mazen Joukhadar wins IT World CIO of the Year Award
We are thrilled to announce that TransForm’s own Mazen Joukhadar has been recognized as CIO of the year in the non-profit sector by IT World Canada. Reflecting on the past four years, Maz and his team accomplished some incredible, transform[ational] achievements!

Under Maz’s leadership, TransForm was successful in implementing an end-to-end health information system that enabled four of our member hospitals to achieve Level 6 of 7 on the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Maz’s team worked tirelessly to implement a digital COVID-19 screening tool to meet changing pandemic guidelines, supported effective operations of the region’s first COVID mass vaccination site at Windsor Regional Hospital and developed an online appointment booking system for the site to meet the needs of the community. His impactful work has contributed to a 20% improved patient satisfaction rate, decreased adverse drug reaction and improved medical reconciliation on admission and discharge.

Maz’s expertise and vision in the digital transformation space allowed TransForm to achieve many milestones. We are incredibly proud of Maz and his team.

Beware of Cyber Threats!

Given the increasing frequency of cyber threats, it is essential to remain vigilant!

Do's and Don'ts

DO:
  • Take extra care when accessing emails on corporate and/or personal devices.
  • Look out for spelling and bad grammar as cybercriminals are known for their grammar and spelling.
  • Rest your mouse (but don't click) on email links to see if their address matches the link that was typed in the message.

DON'T:
  • Click on links or open attachments without considering the source and validity.
  • Fall in the trap of believing threats as cybercriminals often use threats such as 'your security being compromised' and may indicate that your account will be closed if you do not respond.
  • Engage, respond or click on generic emails as phasing emails are usually generic - for example: Dear First Bank user: if you don't see your name, be suspicious.
Meet: Julie Ofner, Perioperative Supply Chain & Strategic Sourcing Specialist

If the old saying ‘variety is the spice of life’ resonates with you, you should meet Julie Ofner, TransForm’s Perioperative and Strategic Sourcing Specialist. Her job title alone is a good indicator of how she thrives on wearing many different hats. 
In her role, Julie has to pivot between working two days per week at Erie Shores Healthcare in their surgical unit, sourcing product and materials, but then she works the remainder of the week supporting the Diagnostic Imaging (DI) and lab-based contracts for all the hospitals.

“My role as a periop provides a lot of satisfaction as I can see first-hand how my contributions affect the surgical unit. During those two days, I assist with special orders for upcoming surgeries, source substitutes for items that have gone on back order and help keep the carts stocked with the day-to-day items that are needed to keep the OR running.” Then Julie gets to shift gears and support all our hospitals through her work on strategic sourcing tasks like the procurement of consumables, service agreements and assisting with any contract or vendor issues that may arise. Needless, to say, her week is spent wearing many different hats, but “that’s what keeps things interesting and challenging” says Ofner. “The job is never boring and I love the challenge of learning new things. I find it rewarding when I can help problem solve when issues arise. I also love the team that I work with both at the hospital and TransForm.”

So how does Julie manage to stay on top of all of this and still provide excellent service to her customers? “Well, I can’t stress enough how important it is to create relationships with your customers. Emails are great, but face-to-face meetings and a telephone conversation with that person can go a long way. I try not to leave an email unanswered for more than a day. If I can't complete a request that day, I always let my customer know when they can expect an answer.”

Prior to joining TransForm, Julie once again wore many hats, working in finance and office administration for a private manufacturing company as well as a large chartered accounting firm. She then moved on to work as an office manager and buyer for a large automotive company. Interestingly, she stepped away from her desk job in 2007 and spent 10 years self-employed as a professional photographer. Julie also gave back to the community by volunteering at the Canadian Mental Health Association and taught part-time at St. Clair College.

Variety spills outside the workplace for Julie as well. “In my spare time, I am always looking for a new creative outlet. I love to cook, kayak, fish, and camp. I stay in shape by running and still pick up my camera now and then. I love spending time with my family, especially my three granddaughters and my three grand dogs.”

TransForm's Warehouse: Serving our Member Hospitals and the Community

TransForm’s warehouse department was able to serve a critical need while in the throes of the pandemic.   Establishing temporary satellite locations across the region to support the entire community in acquiring scarce personal protective equipment (PPE), TransForm's warehouse staff were working onsite every day in helping to keep others safe.  Now that the country has entered into various stages of re-opening, our warehouse employees are able to continue to support the health system in providing product in an efficient manner.  Special thanks to Jesse Kelly, Krista Farquharson, Jeff Bunke, Lori Jewell, Liana Parent and manager, Sam Thrasher, in spending some time to describe what life looks like now inside the warehouse.

Why does TransForm have a warehouse?

Warehouse Team:  TransForm has a warehouse primarily for the Home and Community Care (HCC) program within our Erie St. Clair region, which spans across Windsor-Essex, Chatham-Kent, and Sarnia-Lambton. We provide all the necessary products to support at home care for patients who have either been discharged from hospital, do not require full acute care, or who are unable to physically get to a hospital. 

The second function our warehouse exists to support provisioning of pandemic supplies to our member hospitals. Within the main warehouse there is pandemic PPE (masks/gowns/gloves) spread throughout the space. There is also a secondary overflow warehouse space that was acquired at the beginning of the pandemic to support the excessive amount of product that was required. 

Can you describe a typical day in the life of working in the warehouse?

Warehouse Team:  We have five full-time staff that make the warehouse run smoothly for our customers.  A typical day in the warehouse consists of electronically “dropping” orders from HCC for the current day and days ahead which generates a picklist for every order. We then pick these orders to supply our patient and nursing depots for car kits for clinical staff that are on the road supporting patients in the community. We often communicate with HCC regarding backordered products, questionable order quantities and duplicate orders. We also place our supply orders with several vendors twice a week to ensure our warehouse is properly stocked for outgoing patient orders. When these supply orders come in, we then receive them into our inventory and ensure when placing them on the shelf they are rotated by Lot Number & Expiry date. Daily, our courier service brings back returns from our depots from patients that do not pick up orders, whether they are hospitalized or discharged from services, we then have to ensure these are returned to our inventory and a list daily is sent to HCC.  

How does the work of the warehouse impact our health system?

Warehouse Team:  TransForm helps by bridging the gap between the supplies used within our acute care facilities through to discharge into the community for the final stages of the healing process. The secondary goal is also to drive cost savings across the region by standardizing between these separate programs – this is an advantage that TransForm warehouse operations provides that is unique to the HCC distribution model.
 
Are there any challenges?

Warehouse Team:  We run a lean operation, which can sometimes be challenging if one of the team members is away. We’ve discovered efficient ways to help ensure products are available when needed by prioritizing functions such as filling shelves for easier access to picking products, and completing returns to fill patient orders.  It can also be challenging if there is a request for large pandemic supply pulls to be completed on the same day the request comes in.  We make it work, but those days can be challenging when we don’t have a 24-48 hour window to fill those important requests.

What do you love about your job?

Warehouse Team:  We all love the fact that we work for a company and specifically our manager that is confident of our abilities to do our job efficiently and promptly.  We are all empowered to work as a team and make sound judgements when issues arise.  We all support each other and that helps us work well as a team.  

Another benefit of our job that a few staff members enjoy is the ability to stay active in this position.  We are constantly moving around in our role, which helps meet our daily step challenge.
Here's What Our 
Customers Are Saying

Here's What Our 
Customers Are Saying

"Excellent commitment to completing system improvement changes."

"What can I say? Always on time - thank you!"

"Great response time and follow through"

"The service was very efficient and helpful. Thank you."

"Very prompt and helpful."
Sometimes, employees go the extra mile and deliver a wow!

To help recognize these instances, TransForm introduced the Going the Extra Mile recognition program for TransForm employees.

Hospital members, TransForm employees and other customers can submit an online nomination based on the criteria below to recognize employees who have “gone the extra mile” in providing services.
TRANSFORM www.transformsso.ca