News

A Wave of enthusiasm

A letter from the Winnipeg Health Region

BY DR. BRIAN POSTL
Winnipeg Health Region President & CEO
Wave Magazine, May / Jun. 2009

Dr. Brian Postl

Welcome to the premier issue of Wave, Winnipeg's new health and wellness magazine.

As you flip through the pages of this publication, you will discover that it has been conceived with one purpose in mind: to provide readers with the kind of news and information they need to lead healthier, happier and, hopefully, longer lives.

In order to do so, we at the Winnipeg Health Region have embarked on a bit of an experiment. Not only are we producing a consumer health magazine for the first time, we are also tapping into the marketplace to pay for it. Simply put, our goal is to generate enough revenue from advertising sales to cover the costs of producing this publication and its related website.

That we should choose to produce a health magazine should not come as a surprise, nor should our decision to partner with the Winnipeg Free Press. After all, our Region is the largest provider of health services in the province, and one of the largest in the country. The collective knowledge and expertise of the 28,000 women and men working within the Winnipeg Health Region is second to none. The Free Press, meanwhile, is one of Canada's top newspapers and has an extensive sales and distribution network in our community. By working together, and with the support of our advertisers, we believe we can provide readers with the very best in health and wellness information in a way that is economically efficient.

We selected Wave as the title of our new magazine, not just because it has a catchy ring to it, but because it serves as a perfect metaphor for the rising tide of knowledge being generated in the world of medicine and its related disciplines, knowledge that shapes how we live, work and play. This is an exciting time to be working in the field of health and wellness. Researchers around the world are gaining new insights into how mind and body function. Over the years, we have developed a far deeper understanding about how simple things - diet, physical activity, stress, sleep - can affect our health and well-being. Scientists, meanwhile, work away in their laboratories, developing new drugs and treatments that promise to alleviate the symptoms of, or perhaps even cure, rare genetic disorders or chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

The women and men working within the Winnipeg Health Region are making a significant contribution to this growing wave of knowledge. They're also working every day to find new ways to harness its power to provide the very best health care right here. The cover story of this issue underscores the point. It documents the tale of Amy Tinsley, a one-year old girl from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who suffers from hypophosphatasia, a genetic disorder that weakens the bones. Amy underwent life-saving treatment here as part of an international clinical trial led by Dr. Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg, who heads our Child Health program and has spent years working to develop a cure for this disorder. Because of her efforts, and those of her colleagues, Winnipeg's Children's Hospital at the Health Sciences Centre is the first facility on the planet to be authorized to provide this treatment to children, and Amy was the first child in the world to receive it. That says quite a bit about the dedication and quality of care provided by the health-care professionals working in Winnipeg's health-care system.

But our mandate covers more than providing world-class care to the people who need it most. We're also in the business of helping people reduce their risk of getting sick in the first place. To that end, we are partners and supporters of community-based wellness programs, such as those at the Wellness Institute at Seven Oaks General Hospital, the YM/YWCA, the Rady Jewish Community Centre and the Kinsmen Reh-Fit Centre. Among other things these programs provide health-education information and promote physical activity among people of all ages. We have also joined with our partners at the City of Winnipeg, the Province of Manitoba and the University of Manitoba, to create Winnipeg in motion, a program to promote physical activity and wellness. Initiatives such as these are important because they help show how people can make choices to enhance their health and well-being and reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases.

This magazine is another way of caring for the health of people. Published six times a year, Wave's mission is to engage and inform readers about the broad spectrum of health-and wellness-related issues as well as showcase some of the important and innovative work taking place in our health region. Our goal here is not to lecture people about the benefits of making wise lifestyle choices. Rather, it is to provide readers with compelling stories that illuminate and inspire. In this issue, for example, you will read how stress can undermine our health and well-being. You will also read how a number of Winnipeggers are taking steps to help reduce stress before it overwhelms them.

We also want to use this magazine to highlight the stories of people who have overcome significant health challenges. The story in this issue on prostate cancer is a case in point. It tells of three men from different walks of life who have been diagnosed with the disease, and explains what services are available in Winnipeg for men who may want to learn more about the diagnosis and treatment of this potentially fatal condition.

In addition to these kinds of stories, each issue of Wave will also feature a number of advice columns. Written by our health experts, these columns are intended to provide readers with practical information on a wide range of topics, from healthy eating to active living.

In the months ahead, we will bring you more stories and columns designed to engage and inform. Our intent is to use this magazine to produce a wave of information about the thing that matters most - your health and well-being. Our hope is that in doing so, we will generate a different kind of wave in our community - a wave of enthusiasm for healthy living.

	About Wave Wave is published six times a year by the Winnipeg Health Region in cooperation with the Winnipeg Free Press. It is available at newsstands, hospitals and clinics throughout Winnipeg, as well as McNally Robinson Books. Read the May / June 2009 issue of Wave