2C Wears Red in Recognition of Heart Month

February is Heart Month, and we want to use this opportunity to recognize the extraordinary team of health care workers at our Hospital who provide world-class cardiovascular care to patients and their families across Northwestern Ontario.

The Cardiovascular and Stroke Unit (2C) at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre provides inpatient and outpatient care to the cardiovascular and stroke patients in our region. The unit is made up of 36 inpatient beds, 24 of which are cardiovascular and medical care beds and 12 of which are regional stroke care beds. This unit is a fast paced unit with patients having many tests done.

The regional stroke unit beds on 2C are cared for by a team of stroke specialists including specially trained Registered Nurses, Physiotherapist and Occupational Therapist, Speech Language Pathologist, and Neurologists. This team works together to provide excellent stroke care for our patients in the hospital who are having a stroke, receiving treatment to treat a stroke, or are recovering from a stroke. This team works collaboratively to support a network of hospitals in our region, optimizing care for our community.

2C’s cardiovascular and medicine beds are cared for by Registered Nurses who have undergone special training to care for cardiovascular patients. Cardiovascular patients include those who have had a cardiac event, require further tests and observation, or are waiting for or recovering from cardiovascular surgery, among other things. 2C works very closely with the Cardiac Catheterization Lab who perform tests and interventions on many of their patients.

In addition to 2C’s 36 inpatient beds, there are an additional six beds in our angioplasty recovery unit. This unit is an outpatient care area where patients are cared for after having angioplasty procedures. Patients from our hospital and our region will undergo extra monitoring after angioplasty until the following day when they will go home or fly back to their home hospital.

2C’s specially trained team works 24hrs a day and 365 days a year to support cardiovascular and stroke patients in our community and for that we are thankful. Thank you, 2C for your hard work, dedication and compassion.