|
|
||
                    
|
|||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Brockville General Hospital |
|
   
|
|
|
News Release |
|
|
|
|||
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Brockville—Good news recently arrived at Brockville General Hospital (BGH): The innovative Restorative Care and Enhanced Activation Program created at BGH has been recognized as a Leading Practice by Accreditation Canada. “The Restorative Care and Enhanced Activation Program (RCEA) was introduced at BGH in two stages,” says Sherry Anderson, BGH Director of Complex Continuing Care, Rehabilitation and Palliative Care, “beginning in January of 2010 with Restorative Care under the name of Slow Stream Rehab. The name was changed later to Restorative Care to align with one of the priority areas of the South East LHIN’s (Local Health Integration Network) Clinical Services Roadmap regional review.” Following that, BGH in collaboration with the Community Care Access Centre began a new program of Enhanced Therapy in acute care, which is a specialized program of care that is transforming health care by helping seniors remain independent while undergoing acute medical treatment. Anderson says the SE LHIN has been very supportive of the innovative program from the beginning, providing “one time” dollars to enhance the original Restorative Care program in late 2010. “We received approximately $100,000 in order to implement and evaluate this project by March of this year,” she explains. “The Enhanced Activation component began in mid-January of 2011, and the dollars allowed us to increase the nursing and therapy hours.” RCEA was one of the initiatives undertaken at BGH over the past 18 months to respond to the increased numbers of Alternative Level of Care or ALC patients—patients in acute care hospital beds post-treatment who actually then need the next levels of care in an alternate setting: long-term care, complex continuing care, convalescent care or rehabilitation. The premise of Restorative Care and Enhanced Activation is to target frail or elderly acute patients in hospital whose recovery takes more time—possibly leaving them in acute care beds not designed for the care they require post-treatment. This Leading Practice program is an interprofessional approach. “Charge nurse, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, nurses, PSWs, and recreational therapist,” lists Anderson. The success of this innovative program at BGH is impressive. With the introduction of RCEA, Brockville General Hospital has reduced the percentage of ALC patients from 21.2% in 2009 to 5.5% in 2010. In 2009, there were a total of 179 ALC patients waiting for Long-Term Care (LTC), 2010 had 101 patients and the 2011 projection is 65 patients having to wait in hospital for LTC. “BGH felt it was critical that seniors be provided with appropriate and flexible care alternatives, other than costly acute care, and that unnecessary institutionalization be prevented whenever and wherever possible,” says BGH VP Clinical Services and CNE Heather Crawford. “The Restorative Care and Enhanced Activation programs have become valuable assets in assisting hospital patients to return to their homes. “I am excited and energized by the news that Accreditation Canada has identified RCEA as best practice,” she continues. “Our staff should be extremely proud of this accomplishment –they worked very hard to ensure the success of this project. Congratulations to all!”  Sherry Anderson (left), BGH Director of Complex Continuing Care, Rehab and Palliative Care, and Heather Crawford, BGH VP Clinical Services, hold the letter from Accreditation Canada notifying them of the RCEA Program’s national certification as Lead Practice For more information, please contact:
Healthy people – Outstanding Care
|
