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February 2, 2005 News The Board of Directors of Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation held its regular monthly meeting January 31 at the Saint John Regional Hospital The following are highlights of that meeting: Saint John Regional Hospital Auxiliary Jan O’Connor-George, president, Saint John Regional Hospital Auxiliary, gave the Board of Directors a report on the activities of the Auxiliary. She explained that during the past year, the Auxiliary has provided more than $210,000 in funding to the Saint John Regional Hospital for equipment and patient comfort programs. The auxiliary raises these funds by generating income from three core businesses – the Gift Shop, Hair Salon and Lifeline. William Teed, Q. C., Chairman Board of Directors of Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation thanked Mrs. O’Connor-George for her presentation and reminded Board members of the beautiful wall in the hospital lobby that depicts the important work of the Auxiliary throughout its 85-year history. “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I thank you for your ongoing support of this hospital. Your efforts to enhance patient stays are much appreciated,” he said. Utilization ManagementVice-president Patient Programs, Nancy Savage presented Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation’s Utilization Management Plan. She explained that this plan had been developed as a strategy to meet AHSC’s 4th strategic direction: Deliver Comprehensive Health care Services Across the Continuum of Care. Savage explained that the term Utilization Management refers to the process of managing resources through a multidisciplinary approach. “Utilization Management can provide timely, accurate and relevant information and recommendations to use in evidence-based decision-making,” she said. “Our goal is to achieve the optimum balance between the demand for service, availability of resources and well-being of patients through the adoption of best practices.” Savage further explained that the Regional Utilization Committee will be supported in its work by many departments within the organization, including utilization management and discharge planning, human resources, quality/risk management, finance and workload management. Report of the CEOIn her report, AHSC CEO Dora Nicinski advised Board members that Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation’s flu immunization program has resulted in overall improvement in the number of staff members immunized. “Last year 1,400 were immunized; this year 2,200. That’s a significant improvement,” she said Nicinski also reported to Board members that a multidisciplinary committee has been formed to review OR wait lists. “The committee will address factors that are contributing to the growing waitlist and present recommendations to address any identified issues,” she explained. Nicinski updated Board members on a success story in the area of Pharmacy services. “In an effort to increase relations with community pharmacies, AHSC’s pharmacy department held an open house, inviting community pharmacists in to see our organization.” Nicinski said. “I’m delighted to report that this venture resulted in the hiring of five pharmacists.” Finance Committee The following details the financial position of AHSC for the month ended December 31, 2004:
9 months 9 months St. Joseph’s Hospital Urgent Care Centre Progress Report Nancy Savage presented a progress report on Urgent Care Services at St. Joseph’s Hospital. She explained that this means that since July 19, 2004 the very ill patients requiring emergency care should go directly to the Saint John Regional Hospital Emergency Department, while patients whose problems are less severe can be treated at the Urgent Care Centre. “We have physician coverage at St. Joseph’s seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (with the last patient registration taken at 9 p.m.) Savage said. She also explained that patients who seek care and treatment at St. Joseph’s Urgent Care Centre continue to be assessed and are assigned a “triage” rating based on the severity of their symptoms. “We have tracked patients by triage category, time of day and day of the week to evaluate any impact of these changes,” Savage said. By observing this data we have determined peak usage times and have been able to schedule staff and physicians to appropriately provide coverage. Based on anecdotal evidence and staff impressions, we see that patients triaged at levels 1 and 2 are transferred to the Saint John Regional Hospital much sooner than in the past. When assessing the impact of level 1 and 2 patients being transferred sooner, it was determined that no negative impact had been felt at the Emergency Department at the Saint John Regional Hospital. “We have initiated three major utilization initiatives at the Regional hospital that have had a positive effect on the emergency department there," Savage explained.” We have created and staffed a clinical bed coordinator position, developed an Emergency Department critical overload policy and we have recently opened ER2.” ER2 operates next to the Emergency Department at the Saint John Regional Hospital and operates between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. seven days a week. Patients who are triaged and determined to have less severe complaints can be processed to this assessment/treatment area. Initial patient satisfaction appears to be positive. “We are continuing to monitor our services to determine how best to meet the urgent and emergency care needs of patients in our community,” Savage concluded. Contact: Patricia Crowdis Copyright © 2005 Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation. All rights reserved. |
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