R E P R T - St. Catharines General Hospital Foundation
R E P R T - St. Catharines General Hospital Foundation
R E P R T - St. Catharines General Hospital Foundation
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NHS responds to<br />
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS<br />
about the <strong>Hospital</strong> Improvement Plan<br />
On December 16, 2008, the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant (HNHB) Local Health Integration<br />
Network (LHIN) approved the Niagara Health System’s (NHS) <strong>Hospital</strong> Improvement Plan (HIP).<br />
The HIP is a clinical services plan that looks to improve the delivery of quality of patient care and<br />
at the same time achieve cost savings. The details of the HIP will be implemented over the next<br />
five years. Some of the key changes include creating ten centres of excellence for specialized care<br />
across the region.<br />
Q: Is the <strong>Hospital</strong> Improvement Plan only about saving money?<br />
A: No. The Plan is about providing the health care Niagara needs and deserves in a way that is<br />
sustainable. By consolidating services and creating centres of excellence, we can use our health<br />
professionals, facility, equipment, technological and financial resources to our fullest ability to<br />
care for more patients and provide better care. As part of this plan we will need to work with<br />
other healthcare providers and the LHIN to deal with the shortage of primary care as well as<br />
supportive housing.<br />
Q: How will this Plan change patient care services?<br />
A: Patient care will be improved on a number of levels. There are several major<br />
recommendations to help Niagarans in a number of ways, such as:<br />
Manage chronic disease like diabetes or asthma while living at home,<br />
Offer more services for the elderly,<br />
Provide better services for people with addictions and mental health issues,<br />
Enhance our stroke program by having dedicated inpatient beds,<br />
Improve our surgical services by creating Centres of Excellence for various specialties such as<br />
Urology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, etc.<br />
The list goes on and is identified in detail in the Plan. The bottom line is that these<br />
recommendations will bring major improvements to patient care in Niagara. Our goal is to<br />
provide the right care at the right time in the right place. This plan will do that.<br />
Q: Doesn’t this plan raise more questions than provide answers?<br />
A: In any plan of this scope, there will be some questions that require more discussion<br />
especially during the implementation phase. In this plan, we have a road map that will get us<br />
from where we are today to a position where we can improve the quality of hospital care for<br />
every resident of Niagara, attract new doctors and nurses to the region and ensure that we can<br />
provide sustainable hospital care for our children and grandchildren<br />
Q: What is all this talk about one ‘super hospital’ for Niagara – why<br />
isn’t this being done?<br />
A: We do not support the concept of one single super hospital for Niagara. One hospital for<br />
Niagara does not balance the need for specialization and concentration of services versus the<br />
need for emergency, surgery, and dialysis care closer to home. One hospital in Niagara does not<br />
allow for back-up services in case of emergencies such as a fire in the hospital or an infectious<br />
outbreak such as SARS.<br />
Q: Why won’t you reconsider building the new health-care complex<br />
planned in <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Catharines</strong> on available land at the intersection of<br />
Highways 406 and 20 to be more accessible for all Niagarans?<br />
A: A very detailed selection process was undertaken to select the parcel of land to build the<br />
new health-care complex. Over 20 parcels of land were assessed, including land at Highways<br />
406 and 20. The location at First <strong>St</strong>reet and Fourth Avenue in west <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Catharines</strong> met all of the<br />
criteria including: size of property, transit access, proximity to roads such as Highway 406, QEW,<br />
<strong>St</strong>. Paul <strong>St</strong> and 4th/Welland Ave, compliance with official plan, ease of site services, proximity to<br />
Hamilton and central location in Niagara.<br />
We cannot build the new regional services – the cancer centre, cardiac catheterization and<br />
specialty mental health beds – as stand-alone regional services in the middle of Niagara. All of<br />
these services need to be located with an acute care community hospital.<br />
Q: Why does the HIP call for the creation of one centre of excellence<br />
for maternity services?<br />
A: There are a number of reasons why. Firstly, the number of births in Niagara is declining as<br />
our population ages. International research studies show that there should be more then 2,000<br />
births in a single maternity or obstetrics department to ensure that risks to mother and baby are<br />
kept to a minimum. At this time NHS runs three obstetrical units - one in Niagara Falls, one in<br />
Welland and one at the <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Catharines</strong> <strong>General</strong> site.<br />
Q: Why can’t we have birthing centres, rather than full-service<br />
maternity units in all three cities? They don’t need to be as hightech.<br />
A: A major factor driving the recommendation to create a centre of excellence is the increasing<br />
shortage of both specialized physicians and nurses to staff our three programs 24 hours per day.<br />
One of the main issues in continuing to have three obstetrics departments is the difficulty in<br />
staffing the units. Whether we provide birthing centres or full-services obstetrical programs, we<br />
still need RNs and RPNs staffing the departments with mid-wives, and physician specialists<br />
providing back-up. The average age of our specialists is now 57, and we simply won’t have<br />
enough staff to sustain three separate units in the future.<br />
Q: What if my child gets sick? Do I have to go to the new<br />
<strong>St</strong>. <strong>Catharines</strong> hospital?<br />
A: No. All NHS Emergency Departments and 14-hour Prompt Care Centres will continue to<br />
provide assessment and treatment services for infants, children and teenagers.<br />
Q: How is this Plan better for patients in NHS hospitals?<br />
A: Evidence and best practices in patient care show that patient outcomes actually improve<br />
when services are combined and Centres of Excellence are created. By treating more patients,<br />
doctors and nurses can focus and hone their skills. More specialists can be attracted and the<br />
technology will be there to support the most up-to-date procedures.<br />
Page 2 | Winter 2009 | www.scghfoundation.com<br />
Letters From Grateful Patients<br />
Dear SCGH <strong>Foundation</strong>,<br />
"Sometimes, one has to be fair.”<br />
In June, I had to rush to the hospital with a nasty "Atrial Fibrillation"<br />
episode. I was admitted right away and was looked after by Dr. Shank and<br />
a number of nurses. Everyone was pleasant and efficient.<br />
Throughout the night Dr. Shank was very attentive, administering a<br />
number of tests, along with a drug that I had never received before. Within<br />
hours, my condition started to improve.<br />
Let's not say that patients are not looked after with kindness and<br />
competence. I am very grateful to the entire staff that took care of me<br />
including the triage nurse, because of the efficiency of the SCG hospital<br />
and the availability of drugs to help with my recurring problem.<br />
Mrs. Emilienne (Mimi) Massuet<br />
Dear SCGH <strong>Foundation</strong>,<br />
Sadly, on this past Saturday night I suffered a miscarriage and ended up in<br />
the care of the <strong>General</strong>'s ER department. From the moment I arrived until<br />
we left we were treated with care, concern and respect.<br />
Thankfully I have not personally had the need for an emergency room since<br />
I was 6, so I was unsure what kind of experience I would have. However,<br />
everyone I encountered from the very nice lady in Emergency Registration<br />
(who remembered me the next day too), to the nurses, the doctor, and<br />
even the housekeeping staff were all wonderful, and I felt that they<br />
deserved a heartfelt thank you from someone who truly appreciated their<br />
care. In a sad hour of my life I felt fortunate to have encountered such<br />
caring individuals and will always remember their kindness.<br />
I also wish to add that Dr. Dobosiewicz is such an asset to the hospital. He<br />
is my obstetrician and through this situation he too has been wonderful<br />
and helpful. The <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Catharines</strong> <strong>General</strong> has, in my opinion, a great staff of<br />
people who care, and that is beyond measure in this world.<br />
So please again send along my thanks to all, and wish everyone a happy<br />
and healthy Holiday.<br />
Claire Gregory<br />
Dr. Peter McMain Retires<br />
50 year career in Paediatric Medicine<br />
Submitted by Sharon Phair, RN<br />
In August, the staff of the Maternal Child and Family Care Unit hosted a small<br />
luncheon in honour of Dr. McMain's long standing presence on the Obstetric<br />
and Paediatric wards of the <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Catharines</strong> <strong>General</strong>.<br />
As always, even though it was a surprise reception, he was able to capture the<br />
moment to share some of his observations over the years. The changes have<br />
been many; but always at the center of his work has been the well being of his<br />
paediatric patients.<br />
One nurse recalled her own child's first encounter with Dr. McMain. She<br />
entered the office and there was no one at the reception desk. As she<br />
approached the desk, a little Beaver hand puppet popped up and began talking<br />
to her son. It pulled up a small doctor's bag and encouraged him to look inside<br />
and touch the equipment. Then Dr. McMain appeared. She recalls from then<br />
on her son had no fear of doctors and she was very appreciative of his care of<br />
her son.<br />
The MCFC staff have made a donation to The SCGH <strong>Foundation</strong>’s Wall of Hope<br />
as a permanent recognition of Dr. McMain’s work. On behalf of the staff, we<br />
wish Dr. McMain all the best as he enters the next chapter of his life.<br />
Dr. McMain enjoys a retirement celebration with the staff & volunteers<br />
of the Maternal Child & Family Care Unit.