Winter 2024

Sudbury’s only sanctioned supervised consumption site (SCS) – formally called Minoogawbi, La Place, The Spot and informally known as The Spot – was forced to close its doors at the end of March. The city terminated its funding of the site at the end of December 2023, suggesting the province step in.

Federal minister of health Mark Holland introduced Bill C-64, An Act respecting pharmacare, in the House of Commons on Feb. 29, 2024. This initial stage of national pharmacare – which RNAO has long advocated – will include coverage for contraception and diabetes medications, once provinces sign on to the plan.

Daniel Lau, RNAO’s director of membership and services for 22 years, stepped down from his role in January 2024 and is set to retire in June. Continuing to work as a special resource to CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun, Lau says he is immensely proud of the growth of RNAO and will miss working with the team.

RN Jorge Santos has the unique experience of getting to work alongside one of his former patients at Toronto’s Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Santos’ colleague is Emily Chan, a social worker who, until the age of six, underwent physical rehab at the hospital.

RNAO’s Best Practice Spotlight Organization® (BPSO®) Program is again expanding its reach beyond Canadian borders.

RNAO has changed the name of the Newly Graduated Nurse membership fee category to New RN in Ontario. The change now includes internationally educated nurse (IEN) associates.

NP Beth Hayhoe has been volunteering with Toronto’s Yonge Street Mission for nearly 30 years. The organization recently spent $3 million to expand its health and dental centre for youth in the city’s downtown neighbourhood.

Following the intense and exhaustive work of an expert panel, researchers, policy makers, people with lived experience, and the guideline development team at RNAO, the association’s newest BPG was previewed during a webinar in March, six weeks before its official release during Nursing Week 2024 in May.

Mackenzie Health in Richmond Hill offers simulation training for its staff through Sim2You, a mobile simulation unit that allows teams to learn in non-traditional ways.

In a letter to the editor published before the release of the provincial budget on March 26, RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun takes aim at clinics that charge for health care and advises on how NPs and NP-led clinics must be fully covered by the province to ensure timely access to quality care by NPs.