TechTalks in CMMS

Joseph Bilik, Founder and CEO of Bluebird Procurement, discusses the vital intersection of maintenance and strategic sourcing. He shares his journey from leading global portfolios to launching his own firm, driven by the belief that procurement should be a strategic partner rather than just a cost center. Joe explains how Bluebird Procurement helps facility leaders who manage large, multi-site por...

Marie-Anne Bazerghi discusses the innovative non-pharmaceutical dementia care offered by Eugeria, such as interactive projectors and hydroponics for purposeful activities to manage difficult behaviors, and ease staff burden. Eugeria provides these tested products and training globally for positive outcomes in long-term care homes.

Lolo Chiweshe, a Personal Support Worker (PSW) in a long-term care dementia unit, and also serves as a PSW champion for continuing education school boards in Ontario. Lolo shares her passion for her job, explaining that she resonates with the elderly's frustrations, due to her own past experience with postpartum anxiety, mental health, and depression. She discusses how her personal journey led...

Jean Bonnet, who previously worked as a senior claims analyst, talks with Dan about his personal journey, and satisfaction with his new career. Jean sought a new challenge, and a more fulfilling role where he could directly interact with people, as his previous job left him feeling "invisible" behind a computer. He highly recommends the PSW profession to anyone seeking a rewarding and sa...

Dan Roberge interviews Dino Roberge, discussing the significant growth and evolution of their company, Maintenance Care CMMS, over the past four years. Dino highlights the transformation from basic, direct lead generation and support calls to a more diverse and process-driven operation with a focus on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and streamlined client interactions. They detail the expansion...

Dan Roberge interviews Jolanta Linde, the Executive Director of Dom Lipa, a Slovenian Linden Foundation Care Home. Jolanta discusses the multifaceted role of an Executive Director in long-term care, highlighting the need for adaptability, a willingness to grow, and the ability to wear "many hats." She shares her unconventional path to the position, revealing how her background in stage m...

Dan interviews Mike Dier at the Advantage Ontario Convention in Toronto. Mike, representing Sherwood Park Manor, a long-term care facility, discusses his role in running a full-time, seven-day-a-week physiotherapy program. He highlights their proactive approach to integrating physical exercise into daily care for all residents, regardless of their initial needs, rather than it being a specialized...

Dan Roberge talks with Sasha Johnston, who is attending the Advantage Conference in downtown Toronto for the first time as a partner of Age Inc., a company that develops educational programs. She is a master coach for Age Inc., where her primary role is to coach other coaches who deliver the Gentle Persuasive Approaches (GPA) and Dementia Care program. This eight-hour in-person, hands-on education...

Dan chats with Melissa, who is attending the Advantage Seniors show for the first time. Melissa, from Clinton, Ontario, works at Huron View Home for the Aged as the manager of IPAC and environmental services, overseeing laundry and housekeeping for about 15 staff members. She finds communication challenges with maintenance regarding room turnovers. With only six months in her current role, Melissa...

Odelia shares insights into modern care home facility operations. She discussed navigating the "exciting times" of COVID-19, highlighting the significant difficulty in admitting new residents due to lengthy waitlists and a lack of system capacity, which often forces people to move far from family. Odelia details a recent overhaul of their facility's maintenance care system, where the...

Dan speaks with Tara Morelli, Director of Care at a Long Term Care Home. She shares her experiences at the Avantage Ontario Long-Term Care Conference in Toronto, marking her third year attending. She actively networks, checks out vendors, and has spoken at the conference for the past two years, despite finding public speaking challenging. This year, she presented to an audience of around 120 peopl...

Dan speaks with Katelyn Burns, the acting administrator of Shalom Village in Hamilton. She is currently overseeing the entire long-term care home, managing numerous department heads, and approximately 260 staff across 127 long-term care beds and 81 assisted living rooms. With a background in recreation and leisure services, including experience as a recreation manager, business manager, educator,...

Dan Roberge and Phil Boone discuss Phil's three-year tenure at Maintenance Care, where he's become a product specialist, completing over 500 demos, and mentoring new staff on strategy and setup. Phil's daily responsibilities include client outreach, customer service, new business acquisition, and live demonstrations.

In this video, host Phil Boone talks with Kinsey Lehigh, a Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) with Stay at Home Nursing, where she's been since 2019. The company provides personal support and in-home care in the Niagara, Hamilton, and greater Toronto areas. Kinsey, who started in the field and worked her way up to management, values her "foot on the ground" experience, which helps her...

Phil Boone interviews Daniel Beard, a representative from Lion Health Care, a staffing agency that provides essential personnel for long-term care and retirement homes across Canada. Daniel, with five years at the company, explains their services range from nurses and housekeeping to dietary staff and security, including unique one-to-one security agents who offer companionship and specialized car...

At the Together We Care conference, Steve from Evac Chair highlighted his company's evacuation chairs and power stair climbers. These essential devices safely evacuate individuals during emergencies, utilizing friction technology for easy operation. Steve shared compelling stories, including their chairs saving lives during 9/11 and a $26 million lawsuit against a school for not having one dur...

In this video, Dan Roberge interviews Tenzin Woser, an Executive Director at REKAI, a long-term care home with two current locations, and a third under construction. Tenzin discusses the challenges of managing an older facility. She shares her 17-year journey with REKAI, starting as a nurse and progressing through various roles to her current leadership position, emphasizing the importance of dedi...

In this video, Dan Roberge interviews Mark Seidenfeld, the representative for BCI Networks, a company focused on an "AI-driven care ecosystem." Seidenfeld explains that the elder care industry has traditionally relied on residents to signal when they need help, which is inefficient given that residents are there because they can no longer fully care for themselves. BCI Networks offers a...

In this video, Dan Roberge interviews Dylan Conley about Life Loop, a resident engagement and staff operations platform designed for senior living communities. Dylan explains that Life Loop streamlines workflows, saving staff time and improving the resident experience. He details how the platform is used by staff, residents, and family members, with features like daily updates via an app for famil...

Antoine Karachekhlian talks about VTech, a Hong Kong-based company with three main divisions: contract manufacturing, educational toys (under VTech and LeapFrog brands), and telecom. At the "Together We Care" event, VTech is showcasing how their multi-cell SIP cordless phones integrate with nurse call systems in senior and extended care facilities, allowing alerts from pull cords to be s...

Dan was surprised to learn that Niklas isn't just testing, but soon implementing robotics technology in senior care homes. Niklas elaborated, explaining that these "helping robots" will take on fundamental tasks like food delivery and environmental cleaning. The core benefit, he stressed, is to free up human caregivers, allowing them more time for genuine "touches and interactio...

This video features an interview with Edward Robeznieks about Surge, a company that provides an integrated platform for compliance-focused learning management, policy management, and quality and risk management. Robeznieks highlights Surge's significant brand recognition in Ontario, its growing presence in Western and Eastern Canada, and its commitment to creating content that helps organizations...

In this podcast, Dan talks with our special guest, Eric Igbokwe from Zephyr Staffing Solutions, a fully digital staffing platform that leverages AI to efficiently match healthcare facilities with qualified nurses and personal support workers (PSWs). When a healthcare professional registers, the platform uses APIs to verify their credentials, conduct digital ID verification, and perform interviews...

As the administrator of an aging 151-bed Extendicare senior care home in Scarborough, Toby oversees a small maintenance team and utilizes the "Maintenance Care" software. A core policy mandates that all non-urgent maintenance requests be logged in the system; otherwise, they won't be addressed. However, significant issues such as severe leaks or structural failures are handled immediately and dire...

In our continuing series of energy-saving solutions, we're joined by Neil Horne from Gold Leaf Energy. He's here to talk to us about a common but often overlooked issue: water scaling in your pipes. Let's dive in and check out what Neil has to say.