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May 29, 2007 The Board of Directors of Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation held its regular monthly meeting May 28, 2007 at the Eastern Charlotte Lions Club, Pennfield. The following are highlights of that meeting: Infection Prevention and Control at AHSC Judith Rau, AHSC Infection Prevention and Control Coordinator, provided Board members with an update on the MRSA Taskforce Report. Rau explained that MRSA surveillance began in 1997 and a trend started to emerge in 2003/2004. “In 2005, the number of confirmed cases doubled from the previous year, so we realized we needed to bring those numbers back down,” she said. Rau explained that a multidisciplinary task force was appointed by Senior Executive in 2005 with a mandate to provide evidence-based recommendations and action plans to reduce the incidence of MRSA at AHSC. A final report, with 23 recommendations was released in February 2007. Rau explained that “findings indicated that AHSC policies and procedures did generally consist of evidence based best practices.” Awareness, accountability and education were identified as critical components for rate reduction. Key areas for focus were hand hygiene practices for all healthcare personnel, implementation of standard and transmission based precautions, concentration on education and communication, accountability, regular monitoring and reporting of quality and patient safety indicators, and patient screening and follow-up care. Rau stressed that “we are making a difference with this action plan.” She also emphasized that an easy and effective preventative measure to reduce the spread of infections is good hand hygiene practices. She reminded everyone to take advantage of the Clean Hands: Good Health e-learning program available on the AHSC website. William H. Teed, Q.C., Chairman of AHSC’s Board of Directors thanked Judith for her presentation stating that “the impressive amount of work that has been done by you and your colleagues is very important to this organization and we express our thanks to you for that.” Report of the CEO AHSC President and CEO Dora Nicinski informed Board members that Organizational Learning will be reporting on compliance with three mandatory learning programs from now on. For the period from May 1, 2006 – April 30, 2007 compliance was as follows: WHMIS – 93.30%, Clean Hands: Good Health – 72.33%, Standard & Transmission Based Precautions – 48.76%. Nicinski indicated that there are approximately 4,000 people on the Physician Registry for people without a family physician. Over the past two months, 900 names have been forwarded to physicians able to take on new patients. Sussex patients may join the registry for the first time in over a year due to the impending retirement of a physician in that area. Discussions are ongoing to bring on new physicians in the fall. No finalized agreements have been made at this time. Approval for two additional Nurse Practitioner positions for the region has been received. Nicinski indicated that “one position will be for Eastern Charlotte County and the second will be in the Nephrology Program at the Saint John Regional Hospital.” Nicinski provided a mumps update as of Monday, May 28. According to Public Health, there are 64 confirmed cases in Region 2 and a total of 68 cases in New Brunswick. The Canadian Medical Association Conjoint Accreditation Services Survey Committee completed a site visit for Nuclear Medicine School of Technology. The survey involved all three partners in the Bachelor of Health Sciences (Nuclear Medicine) Degree. These include AHSC, UNB Saint John Campus and New Brunswick Community College Saint John Campus. The committee has recommended a six year accreditation. Nicinski said “this is an excellent accreditation result and we look forward to the formal communication of the results.” Nicinski presented information on Bed Occupancy Rates indicating that they are very tight. “Staff do a superb job of managing health care delivery under these circumstances,” said Nicinski. An Alternate Level of Care (ALC) Summary was also provided with an average of 208 cases across the region from May 2006 – April 2007. Nicinski indicated that the new Kennebecasis Nursing Home will be open in fall 2007 and will provide some short term relief. “The province is working on both short term and long term solutions to the issue,” said Nicinski. A Halifax Respirologist/researcher is working with the AHSC Extra Mural Program to develop a research project on End of Life Quality Care. “He wrote a very touching article on his experiences with our Extra Mural Program so far and we look forward to continuing work with him,” said Nicinski. Two new Family Physicians will be starting on Grand Manan in July. Currently there is one family physician working on the island. Medical Advisory Committee Dr. Brian Wheelock, Chairman indicated that Heather Oakley, St. Joseph’s Hospital Facility Administrator and Administrative Director Trauma Program received on behalf of Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation, $125,000 a year for two years to bring the Child Safety Link injury prevention program to New Brunswick. This donation was generously provided by CN. Wheelock also indicated that Dr. John Steeves, AHSC Director of Medical Education, will be the lead presenter on a poster at the Association for Medical Education in Europe conference in Norway. Finance Committee
Contact: Erin Barnes Copyright © 2007 Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation. All rights reserved. |
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