BY NATALIE TARINI

Employees at the North Bay General Hospital (NBGH) took their best shot this season, with a 90 per cent vaccine compliance rate, resulting in no influenza outbreaks.

NBGH took a unique approach to staff compliance for the influenza vaccine by implementing a policy that restricts work for those who are not vaccinated, or taking Tamiflu when influenza cases occur at the hospital. The policy is enforced for the protection of patients, visitors, employees and volunteers, stresses the importance of protection, and serves as a preventative measure for the spread of further cases or an actual outbreak both inside and outside the hospital.

The percentage of staff members at the North Bay General Hospital who were vaccinated nearly doubled from 2004 to 2009. Clara O’Reilly, co-ordinator of occupational health services at the NBGH, attributes this to a combination of education and incentives. “It’s about people expressing their concerns about receiving the vaccine and having their concerns addressed by medical professionals,” said O’Reilly, who is already thinking of incentives and guest speakers for next year’s campaign.

O’Reilly has been a part of the vaccination campaign at NBGH for the past four years. She takes a unique approach in an attempt to increase the number of staff who get vaccinated for influenza. One initiative combined incentives such as giving out boxes of Smarties labeled ‘I made the smart choice,’ along with educational opportunities to become more informed about the influenza vaccination. The campaign team travelled to various hospital departments, both on and offsite, offering the incentives and non-judgmental ears to listen to staff concerns. “It’s a personal choice, but we ask that each individual know why we make the choices that we do,” said O’Reilly.

North Bay General Hospital physicians decided to lead by example.

“We wanted to stress the importance of receiving the influenza vaccination to the staff at NBGH,” said Chief of Staff Dr. Joseph Madden, who was among the first to receive their influenza vaccination. “I’m hopeful that the policy at NBGH will serve as an example to other large health-care organizations so that, collectively, we can reduce the number of influenza outbreaks – thus making patient transfers, particularly seniors to long term care facilities, easier.”

The statistics are alarming. Canadians are more likely to die from influenza than any other infectious disease. Lurking around the corner of each winter season and with different composite strains, influenza is no stranger – especially to those working in health care.