2007 will be remembered as a year of advancements at the Ross. In every department of the hospital, there have been program enhancements and innovations that are improving patient care in our community.

Among the most exciting changes in 2007 was the introduction of dialysis. In April, the hospital opened a temporary six station Dialysis Unit to address the urgent need for dialysis services in the community. The temporary unit ramped up its services to treat a total of 36 patients, and will operate until the completion of the permanent unit in the summer of 2008. Bondfield Construction was awarded the contract to build the hospital’s permanent Dialysis Unit, which will have the capacity to treat 90 patients. In October, the hospital broke ground, with a celebration that included all of its project partners. The event also kicked off the Foundation’s “On The Horizon” Campaign, with a goal to raise the community’s share of the project, $2.2 million dollars.

A number of outpatient clinics were established last year, to further enhance our patients’ access to care. For example, the hospital created a clinic for patients with a chronic disease to access a variety of disciplines for care and information. The Chronic Disease Prevention & Management Clinic combines programs related to diabetes education, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, heart failure and nutrition counseling. In November, the Chronic Disease Prevention & Management Team shared the details of their successful program at the annual Ontario Hospital Association conference in Toronto.

In March, the Ross announced a new Osteoporosis Screening Coordinator would be helping patients in the Fracture Clinic as part of the province’s Osteoporosis Strategy. The goal is to reduce fractures from osteoporosis through an integrated approach aimed at health promotion and disease management.

Patient safety was the focus of several initiatives undertaken last year.

In February, a rapid-response team was implemented on the Medical Floor. The Medical Emergency Team (MET) includes ICU, Emergency and Respiratory staff who respond to calls from nurses who sense a patient’s health is rapidly deteriorating. Since its implementation, the number of emergency code calls for cardiac/respiratory arrest has declined substantially on the medical floor. The initiative expanded to cover the Surgical Unit in December.

In June, the Ross launched TIPS, a falls-prevention project with a focus “To Improve Patient Safety”. The program involves identifying patients at risk of falling with blue wrist-bands and blue dots on their bedside charts. This identification flags patients who should not be trying to walk without help. The TIPS project also involved the purchase of falls prevention safety equipment, such as exit alarms for beds and chairs.

The hospital has also benefited from the addition of a GEM nurse. This is a nurse who specializes in Geriatric Emergency Management and whose expertise enhances senior care. The GEM nurse enhances links between the hospital and community resources to support our seniors in a safe return to their home environment and facilitate follow-up care. 25 % of patients in the Emergency Department are over the age of 75. The five hospitals in the Central East LHIN were able to fund these new positions after the provincial government announced that $2 million would be spent to ease hospital over-crowding and increase access to emergency care.

The Emergency Department launched its “Patient Flow Project” in the summer, with a goal of improving patients’ access to care while keeping wait times as short as possible. The project involved restructuring the staffing and the layout of the Emergency Department. An important component of the project was encouraging more communication between the Emergency staff and the patients waiting to be seen.

To read the rest of the article click here.