The Boreal Healthcare Foundation’s annual Med Gala was a special night for more than one individual on Friday.
The gala, formerly known as the Doctor’s Gala, expanded to celebrate nurses and collaborative healthcare teams in Prince Albert and wider Saskatchewan.
The Prince Albert Victoria Hospital Laboratory team received the Collaborative Care Award, which celebrates innovation in healthcare.
Brittany Ferguson is a Medical Laboratory Technologist 2 and Lexus Taszlikowicz is a Medical Laboratory Technologist 1 in the Laboratory. Ferguson is Taszlikowicz’s supervisor in the automated part of the Victoria Hospital Laboratory.
Ferguson said that the laboratory takes great pride in the recognition.
“The lab is just so proud of it,” she said. “It’s nice to be recognized. We are always behind the scenes and we help so many people, but nobody knows that. Obviously, we like being in behind the scenes. This is not our comfort zone.”
“It’s definitely a thankless job, so it’s nice to be recognized for the work we do day in, day out,” Taszlikowicz added.
Serving as a 24/7 diagnostic hub for northern Saskatchewan, this multidisciplinary team performs over 1.6 million tests annually, playing a vital role in timely, accurate care across the region.
Their work ensures that patients, whether in Prince Albert or the far north, receive the answers they need when it matters most.
“We work with physicians, we work with nurses, we work with techs, like diagnostic imaging, (and) anybody in the hospital,” Ferguson said. “Most people in the hospital need our services at some point to help with their diagnosis of the patient.”
She explained that the work includes the maternity ward, Public Health and Northern Saskatchewan.
“We have a huge demographic that we serve. Like, we go all the way up to Athabasca,” Ferguson said. “We get samples from Athabasca. We get samples from Pelican Narrows. I think Spiritwood is our farthest in one direction.”
They also get samples from Nipawin, Tisdale, Melfort, Birch Hills and other communities.
“It’s a lot,” Ferguson said. “We’re 24 hours, seven days a week. We don’t stop. We just keep going.”
There was a small representation of the 50 people who work in the lab present at the Gala. The lab included the automated core lab, microbiology department and the histology department
“Then there’s the medical lab aides, who are the actual people that the public see if they collect them,” Ferguson said.
“We work in the background testing,” Taszlikowicz added.
Anchor Managed Solutions representatives Andrew Ouellette, Muhammed Zeeshan and Shawne Hancock and Boreal CEO Cody Barnett presented the Collaborative Care Award to the Prince Albert Victoria Hospital Laboratory Team.
Overall the laboratory team was happy to be recognized.
“We’re really grateful to get this award we’re just really proud of our team and it’s really nice. We work with everybody all the time, so it was nice,’ Ferguson said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
