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| <html> | |
| <head> | |
| <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 3.0"> | |
| <title>A Credit To Your Health, March 1999</title> | |
| </head> | |
| <body> | |
| <p align="center"><font size="6">A Credit To Your Health </font></p> | |
| <p align="center"><em>A Publication Of The Credit Valley Hospital, March/April 1999</em></p> | |
| <p align="center"><a name="disabled" href="Default.htm" webbot-href="--WEBBOT-HOME--">Back to The Credit | |
| Valley Hospital Home Page</a></p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="news.htm">Back to A Credit To Your Health &<br> | |
| Upcoming Events Page</a></p> | |
| <p align="center"><a name="Top">Top</a></p> | |
| <p><font size="4">Table Of Contents</font></p> | |
| <p><a href="#The Peel Regional Cancer Centre">The Peel Regional Cancer Centre</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#Boas, Beetles and Bow Ties - Valentine’s Gala - A Huge Success">Boas, | |
| Beetles and Bow Ties - Valentine’s Gala - A Huge Success</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#Get Your Green Thumb Ready…">Get Your Green Thumb Ready…</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#I Saw Someone Do Something Good!">I Saw Someone Do Something Good!</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#Juggling Patients and Priorities…The Daily Battle in the Emergency Department">Juggling | |
| Patients and Priorities…The Daily Battle in the Emergency Department</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#Keeping Healthy, Keeping Fit">Keeping Healthy, Keeping Fit</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#New Mammography Machines Benefit Patients">New Mammography Machines Benefit | |
| Patients </a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#Not Just Another Work Day!">Not Just Another Work Day!</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#Laughter Truly Is The Best Medicine">Laughter Truly Is The Best Medicine</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#Streetsville Childrens Centre Benefits CVH Oncology">Streetsville Childrens | |
| Centre Benefits CVH Oncology</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#The Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program">The Alcohol and Drug Treatment | |
| Program</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#The Credit Valley Hospital Expansion Project Awaits Government Approval">The | |
| Credit Valley Hospital Expansion Project Awaits Government Approval</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#The Credit Valley Hospital Foundation: For Your Good Health">The Credit | |
| Valley Hospital Foundation: For Your <i>Good</i> Health</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#Tom’s Story – Confessions of An Addict">Tom’s Story – | |
| Confessions of An Addict</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#Triage – What’s It All About?">Triage – What’s It All | |
| About?</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#Volunteering - Then and Now">Volunteering - Then and Now</a></p> | |
| <p><a href="#Wayne’s World">Wayne’s World</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <p><font size="4"><strong><a name="The Peel Regional Cancer Centre">The Peel Regional | |
| Cancer Centre</a></strong></font></p> | |
| <p><strong><em>by Wendy Johnson APR</em></strong></p> | |
| <p><img src="March%20Web%20Pic's/Oncology%20Clinic.gif" alt="Oncology Clinic" align="left" WIDTH="177" HEIGHT="252">Although | |
| specific funding approval for the Peel Regional Cancer Centre has yet to be announced, Dr. | |
| Robert Myers is anxiously awaiting the day when his patients, and those of his fellow | |
| oncologists, will receive radiation treatments here.</p> | |
| <p>The centre, which will be included in the ambulatory care expansion to The Credit | |
| Valley Hospital, will mean several thousand cancer patients will no longer have to travel | |
| to downtown Toronto or other centres for their radiation. Approximately 3,000 patients | |
| will come from Peel, Halton and Durham regions once the new centre is built. </p> | |
| <p>"About 45% of all patients diagnosed with cancer require radiation therapy at some | |
| point in their treatment," according to Dr. Myers. "Although most patients | |
| tolerate radiation reasonably well, there are some side effects such as nausea, diarrhea | |
| and fatigue. The repetitive nature of the radiation treatments coupled with the travel (to | |
| and from Princess Margaret or Sunnybrook Hospitals in Toronto) is wearing on | |
| patients." Myers says curative radiation could result in as many as 25 separate | |
| treatments.</p> | |
| <p>Cancer Care Ontario agrees with Dr. Myers concerns. It recommended and the Health | |
| Services Restructuring Commission concurred, that it made more sense to provide access to | |
| radiation closer to home. "It will be more efficient."</p> | |
| <p>The Credit Valley Hospital already provides chemotherapy to its oncology patients. | |
| These treatments, done on an outpatient or ambulatory care basis, account for 14,000 | |
| patient visits per year. "The existing oncology clinic can’t handle the volume | |
| of patients we’re currently seeing," Myers says. "They have more | |
| sophisticated levels of treatment. We need more space to provide those treatments."</p> | |
| <p>The new Cancer Centre will provide the additional space for those patients as well as | |
| the patients requiring radiation. The oncology clinic’s space issues aren’t | |
| unlike problems facing many other areas of the hospital. Because of unprecedented growth, | |
| particularly in the area surrounding The Credit Valley Hospital (see "The Credit | |
| Valley Hospital’s Expansion Project Awaits Government Approval" also in this | |
| issue) the other ambulatory clinics such as renal dialysis, are bursting at the seams. The | |
| ambulatory expansion will allow the outpatient clinics currently housed in all-important | |
| inpatient space to move out, freeing up space in the existing hospital for more inpatient | |
| beds. This will have a positive impact on the overcrowded emergency department which is | |
| regularly backed-up with patients requiring inpatient beds.</p> | |
| <p>Dr. Myers is particularly pleased that the Cancer Centre will be part of the Credit | |
| Valley Hospital complex. Cancer patients require supportive care services such as | |
| psychological support, dietary and pain control as well as laboratory and diagnostic | |
| imaging services. At times patients will require hospitalization. The inclusion of the | |
| Cancer Centre as part of the hospital will make it easier for patients and their families | |
| to access health services in one location.</p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top"> To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <b> | |
| <p></b><font size="4"><strong><a name="Boas, Beetles and Bow Ties - Valentine’s Gala - A Huge Success">Boas, Beetles | |
| and Bow Ties - Valentine’s Gala - A Huge Success</a></strong></font></p> | |
| <p><strong><em>by Anissa Conlin</em></strong></p> | |
| <p><img src="March%20Web%20Pic's/Gala%20Cheque.gif" alt="Gala" align="left" WIDTH="252" HEIGHT="187">On February | |
| 13, Paris Cafe Society and the streets of Montmartre were spectacularly recreated for over | |
| 600 guests at The Credit Valley Hospital Foundation’s 1999 Valentine’s Gala. The | |
| evening was a wonderful success raising $150,000 for the Infrastructure Fund in | |
| preparation for the new Regional Cancer Centre at The Credit Valley Hospital.</p> | |
| <p>Guests were treated to a champagne reception sponsored by The Toronto Congress Centre, | |
| under a blue sky dotted with floating clouds, accompanied with the fun and amusement of a | |
| Marcel Marceau mime and the sounds of a strolling accordionist. Our female guests felt a | |
| part of the exotic Parisian lifestyle with their feathered "Bell Boas" presented | |
| on behalf of Bell Mobility. Guests had the opportunity to bid on extraordinary silent | |
| auction packages. An exquisite dinner was served with a distinct French flare, against the | |
| backdrop of a lighted windmill. The entertainment began with a live auction with packages | |
| including a one year lease on a 1999 VW Beetle, CDs autographed by Elton John, an hour in | |
| an Air Canada flight simulator and a stunning sapphire and diamond ring. Close to $50,000 | |
| was raised on the live auction alone! But the fun was only beginning, as Aelita, "the | |
| Queen of Cabaret" dazzled the crowds with a cabaret show that was reminiscent of | |
| Paris’ Moulin Rouge. And to end an already perfect evening, guests danced the night | |
| away to the music of the Johnny Hood Orchestra.</p> | |
| <p>It was a sensational evening filled with fun, friends and fundraising for the new | |
| Regional Cancer Centre at The Credit Valley Hospital. The funds raised in that one evening | |
| will have a significant impact on the healthcare of the citizens of our community. </p> | |
| <p>This wonderful evening could not have been a success without the support of our | |
| principal sponsors who recognize the importance of supporting our community hospital. <b>Thank | |
| you to Bell Mobility, Charton-Hobbs Inc., Dominion Stores, The Mississauga Fire | |
| Fighters’ Association Benevolent Fund, Sleeman Brewing and Malting Co. Ltd., and The | |
| Toronto Congress Centre.</b></p> | |
| <p>Congratulations to Gala Chairman, <b>Patti Dunn</b> for her outstanding efforts. Thanks | |
| also to Foundation Vice-Chairman <b>John Dunn</b>, who along with Foundation Executive | |
| Committee member <b>Ron Starr</b> who steered the successful ticket selling efforts. Patti | |
| was ably assisted by the following team of volunteers, who also worked tirelessly for six | |
| months to prepare for such a great evening.</p> | |
| <b> | |
| <p>Carroll Nicholls Baker, Dru Betts, Gordi Ann Brisbin, Marie Clipperton, Kim Cohen, | |
| Sherri Croft, Frank Fogelman, Pat Fyffe, Lisa Guglietti, Christy Heenan, Barbara Hobson, | |
| Carol Loberg, Dr. Christine Kalbfleisch, Jane Petruzzi, Pat Rose, Lesia Tymochenko, Tish | |
| Vigna, Susan Wentzell, Hilda Yorke</p> | |
| </b> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <p><font size="4"><strong><a name="Get Your Green Thumb Ready…">Get Your Green Thumb | |
| Ready…</a></strong></font></p> | |
| <p>Historically, the Credit Valley Hospital Associates have sponsored an annual geranium | |
| and impatiens sale. In the past, this event, although very time consuming, has been a | |
| great success. Its popularity continues to grow thanks to our very dedicated volunteers | |
| and positive comments from happy customers.</p> | |
| <p>Again this year, plans are being made to host this event. As usual, the flats of | |
| flowers will be available in various shades. Pickup will be on Saturday, May 8 (the day | |
| before Mother’s Day). Orders must be placed in advance. Payment can be made in cash, | |
| VISA or Mastercard.</p> | |
| <p>In the immediate future, a committee will be put together to roganize this year’s | |
| sale. Any volunteer who is interested in participating should sign up in the | |
| Associate’s Office at the hospital. For additional information call Sherri at | |
| 813-1585 or Victor Cammisa at 813-2200 ext. 6067.</p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <b> | |
| <p></b><strong><font size="4"><a name="I Saw Someone Do Something Good!">I Saw Someone Do | |
| Something Good!</a></font></strong></p> | |
| <p><em>Submitted by: Ms McCann</em></p> | |
| <p>I am writing this letter to The Credit Valley Hospital, as my mother, Margaret McMann, | |
| was admitted as a patient from January 18<sup>th</sup> until February 5<sup>th</sup>, | |
| 1999. My Mother is 88 years old and has never been to The Credit Valley Hospital before.</p> | |
| <p>The 911 Response Team of Ambulance and Fire was immediate, polite and very competent, | |
| but unfortunately they couldn’t take her to the hospital that I suggested (the | |
| emergency department was full), so we ended up at Credit Valley Hospital, which in my | |
| opinion was incredible luck and much to our advantage.</p> | |
| <p>The emergency team under the scrupulous care of Dr. Adam Chen and the Nursing Staff on | |
| 3B astounded me with their knowledge, excellent care and personal kindness. The examined | |
| and cared for her until the illness was diagnosed and treated. I feel that Dr. Adam Chen | |
| and his staff saved her life.</p> | |
| <p>I would very much like to thank the Hospital and it’s Staff for the dedicated | |
| service and care. Various departments visited my mother, making her stay and her discharge | |
| home easier on her and our family. The dietician carefully discussed her diet at home. The | |
| Oxygen and additional homecare were arranged upon leaving the hospital. Even a follow-up | |
| telephone call from the Doctor made us feel more comfortable.</p> | |
| <p>I simply don’t think that I could have handled the responsibility at home if not | |
| for all the help that was given and arranged by the staff at this hospital.</p> | |
| <p>In a time of constant complaints it should be known that the residents of Mississauga | |
| have a First Class Facility in THE CREDIT VALLEY HOSPITAL to serve us</p> | |
| <p>Thanks again.</p> | |
| <p><strong><font size="4"><a name="I Saw Someone Do Something Good!">I Saw Someone Do | |
| Something Good!</a></font></strong></p> | |
| <p><em>Submitted by: Anonymous </em></p> | |
| <p>On arriving for my night shift, I realized I lost my emerald from my engagement ring, | |
| Mark, a night security guard went out of is way looking for it. He got water and wet the | |
| cement at the front of the hospital looking for it. His concern, friendliness and extra | |
| help made me feel better: No, I didn’t find the emerald but Mark went way out of the | |
| way to help!!</p> | |
| <p><strong><font size="4"><a name="I Saw Someone Do Something Good!">I Saw Someone Do | |
| Something Good!</a></font></strong></p> | |
| <p><em>Submitted by: Helen Reilly</em></p> | |
| <p>Through special event coordination in the hospital’s community relations | |
| department, I have had the opportunity to work with many local suppliers and businesses. I | |
| especially enjoyed working with Robert DiFilippo, Manager of the Super Fresh store at Glen | |
| Erin and the Collegeway. Robert is always willing to help with hospital events. In the | |
| last several months his store supported the hospital’s annual United Way campaign and | |
| Foundation activities. He also arrived at the hospital on New Year’s Day with a bag | |
| filled with goodies for the hospital’s New Year’s baby. I am eagerly looking | |
| forward to working with Robert again on fund raising activities for the hospital’s | |
| fitness centre. </p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <p><font size="4"><strong><a name="Juggling Patients and Priorities…The Daily Battle in the Emergency Department">Juggling | |
| Patients and Priorities…The Daily Battle in the Emergency Department</a></strong></font></p> | |
| <p><strong><em>by Wendy Johnson APR</em></strong></p> | |
| <p><img src="March%20Web%20Pic's/Emerg%20Dept..gif" alt="Emerg" align="right" WIDTH="252" HEIGHT="166"> Hospital | |
| Emergency Departments are the most maligned and misunderstood areas of any hospital. | |
| It’s no secret that every hospital ER is a pressure cooker. And no matter how large, | |
| or how many beds or staff you have, it will never be enough…especially in a rapidly | |
| growing area such as Mississauga. You may recall that the hospital completed a major | |
| expansion and renovation project a year ago in order to deal with the increasing patient | |
| load. The day the new ER opened, it was already overcrowded! Our rapid growth in | |
| population means we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of patients at our | |
| hospital. More and more of those patients are being admitted to hospital as a result of | |
| their visit to the emergency department. When the beds on the inpatient units are full, | |
| which is very often the case, patients being admitted through the ER must remain there | |
| until a bed on the unit becomes available. The CVH ER sees about 60,000 patients a year | |
| and is one of the busiest emergency departments in the country. By the year 2003 it is | |
| estimated an additional 25,000 patients will be seen annually. </p> | |
| <p>About one third of those patients are children. The Health Services Restructuring | |
| Commission says the hospital will also be the regional site for paediatric care, which | |
| means more youngsters will be coming to the ER in future years. That will require | |
| additional space in the emergency department. </p> | |
| <p>When the new ER was built, space was included for a paediatric playroom to help the | |
| children pass the time while they wait to be seen. There are plenty of toys for the | |
| children to play with. The toybox is managed by our young volunteers who ensure that when | |
| a child is finished with a toy, it is taken out of circulation until it is disinfected to | |
| prevent the spread of germs. </p> | |
| <p>There are two triage nurses on duty at the registration desk during the peak hours of | |
| the day and night (normally 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.). This helps to speed up the triage | |
| process. Normally the triage nurse will see the new patients in order of their arrival. | |
| However, there are always exceptions when an obviously seriously ill patient requires the | |
| triage nurse’s immediate attention. The triage nurse will ask you why you came to the | |
| emergency room and the symptoms you are experiencing. She will record the information on a | |
| patient flow sheet. This is part one of the triage process. If there are no other patients | |
| waiting to be seen, the nurse will continue with part two, but usually she will ask you to | |
| have a seat for a few minutes. Part two is when the triage nurse takes your detailed | |
| medical history and vital signs (pulse, blood pressure, temperature etc.). It’s at | |
| this point that the triage nurse determines the level of severity of the your condition | |
| and prioritizes you according to a five-level triage system. The new triage system will be | |
| implemented as of April 1<sup>st</sup>. So it really doesn’t matter when you arrived | |
| in the emergency room, the sickest patients will always be seen first (see also the Triage | |
| Process, included in this issue of "A Credit To Your Health"). However, it's | |
| important to remember that if your condition changes while you're waiting, you should tell | |
| the triage nurse. The nurse will reassess you and document the information on your chart. </p> | |
| <p>Once your triage has been completed, you'll be asked to register at the desk adjacent | |
| to the triage desk. The clerk will ask for the patient's address and OHIP information. | |
| This information is recorded on computer and so begins your patient chart. All health | |
| professionals who see you during your ER visit, will document information, via computer, | |
| on your chart. After you've registered, you'll be asked to take a seat in the waiting | |
| room. </p> | |
| <p>"You can’t always judge how busy we are from the waiting room," nurse | |
| manager Janet Cadigan explained recently. "We may be completely full with only one | |
| doctor and several full-blown emergencies in progress." Part of the reason why is | |
| because of the way the ER department is structured. The ambulance entrance, which is where | |
| trauma and many seriously ill patients enter the ER, is adjacent to the resuscitation | |
| room, completely out of eyeshot of the ER waiting room. This allows for speedier transport | |
| into the ER and protects the patient's privacy.</p> | |
| <p>"The ambulance entrance is perfectly located for the coordinating nurse who | |
| immediately discusses the patient’s condition and requirements with the emergency | |
| medical technicians (EMTs) and situates the patient in the most appropriate treatment | |
| room. The coordinating nurse really controls all the action in the emergency department. | |
| She places the patients and informs the physician and the other members of the | |
| multi-disciplinary team as to the patient’s status. She responsible for ensuring that | |
| all ER activity is managed properly."</p> | |
| <p>Because of the particular layout of the department, patients in the waiting room will | |
| not be aware of the level of activity in the treatment areas. For example, there could be | |
| active resuscitation of critically ill patient going on, but you will not be aware of this | |
| from the waiting room.</p> | |
| <p>The 28-stretcher department is often "gridlocked" with acutely ill patients | |
| who are too sick to be treated and released. They need to be hospitalized, on a nursing | |
| unit, in an "inpatient" bed. But as we hear and read daily in the media, those | |
| inpatient beds are at a premium, particularly at this time of year when influenza and | |
| other seasonal ailments abound. So the patients remain in the emergency department where | |
| they can be safely monitored and their treatments initiated until an inpatient bed becomes | |
| available. </p> | |
| <p>"Every day we have between five to twenty patients on stretchers in the ER waiting | |
| to be taken to an inpatient bed on a nursing unit," Cadigan says. "It used to be | |
| this way only during the winter months. We started backing up last August and it's | |
| escalated since then we absolutely no relief in sight. So you can see how easily we become | |
| gridlocked. We often end up bringing in extra stretchers and lining the corridor with them | |
| just to keep the patient flow moving. This is not ideal because it means the patients | |
| don't have any privacy and it makes it difficult for our staff to examine them. But there | |
| is only so much space. If the patients need to be monitored, which many of them do, we | |
| have to place them in a treatment room which in turn decreases space for new patients | |
| waiting to be seen." </p> | |
| <p>Patients who have been triaged and who have been placed inside the ER either in Care | |
| Centre One, Two or Three, have no trouble understanding how busy it is. The care centres | |
| are open-concept design. This means patients and nurses can see one another at all times. | |
| There at eight RNs on duty who are assigned to the three care centres at all times. During | |
| peak hours there are three physicians on duty. Dr. Eric Letovsky, the Chief of the | |
| Emergency Department, has developed a strong teaching program for resident physicians from | |
| the University of Toronto. The emergency department at CVH is considered one of the best | |
| teaching sites in the metropolitan Toronto/GTA area. The residents are fully qualified | |
| professionals who work with the attending physician to gain important emergency medicine | |
| experience. They do a three month residency at CVH. </p> | |
| <p>The staff in the ER work as a team with the other health professionals who are called | |
| in as required such as the physician specialists, respiratory therapists and social | |
| workers. Other health professionals that provide important diagnostic services to the ER | |
| (and other areas of the hospital) are the lab technologists, diagnostic imaging | |
| technicians and radiologists. </p> | |
| <p>The ER is designed so that staff can care for the patients as efficiently as possible. | |
| Caregivers can order tests or prescribe medications on computer directly from the | |
| patient's bedside. When blood tests and x-rays are completed, the patient is reassessed by | |
| the physician. There's a cart beside every bed which contains supplies and equipment so | |
| there are no delays in delivering treatment. Each cart is identical so no matter what room | |
| a physician or nurse is in, the supplies are in the same place. The patient service | |
| representatives (PSRs) keep the carts stocked as well as transporting patients to and from | |
| the ER for tests, or to the nursing units. Cadigan says the PSRs "are a vital part of | |
| the caregiver team." </p> | |
| <p>The unit clerk "flags" anything that is unusual or highlighted on the | |
| patient's chart for the other health professionals. She also deals with the many calls to | |
| and from specialists. </p> | |
| <p>Care Centre 2 is where the patients with less serious illnesses are placed. It also has | |
| specialty rooms where gynecology, sutures, fractures, and ear, nose and throat problems | |
| are dealt with. </p> | |
| <p>Care Centre Three is the department's "fast track" area for patients with | |
| less urgent ailments. A nurse and a physician are dedicated to CC3 during the busiest | |
| times of the day -- 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Friday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on the | |
| weekends. When this area is not being used as a "fast track" service, it’s | |
| used as a "spillover" area for the more seriously ill patients who require tests | |
| or may need hospitalization. In the last few months the ambulatory care clinic, next to | |
| Care Centre Three, has also been temporarily relocated in order to place six additional | |
| stretchers for patients waiting for inpatient beds. </p> | |
| <p>The Credit Valley Hospital has been proactive in establishing several other programs to | |
| assist patients and caregivers. The Quick Response Team, a team of specially trained | |
| nurses, works with the patient, the family, the physician and nurse to determine any | |
| special requirements the patient may have once they return home. Contacts may be made with | |
| community service agencies such as homemaker or VON services so the patient, who doesn't | |
| require admission to hospital, will be able to function safely at home.</p> | |
| <p>There is also a Crisis Intervention Team made up of social workers who assist patients | |
| with psychiatric illnesses or stress-related illnesses. </p> | |
| <p>"The pressure is incredible most of the time," Cadigan says. "We want to | |
| see and treat our patients just as quickly as possible. But it's rarely possible these | |
| days. Our goal will always be to deliver the highest quality of care possible. That’s | |
| what our institution is famous for."</p> | |
| <p>There's no quick fix for gridlock. You can't stop the population from growing and you | |
| can't stop people from getting sick. You can't find more space for beds where there just | |
| isn't any more space. And you can't put peoples' lives in jeopardy. That’s why | |
| it’s imperative that the CVH expansion project proceeds right away. "We're doing | |
| the best we can with what we've got, Cadigan says. "And we're thankful for what we've | |
| got. But some days it just doesn't seem to be enough." </p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <p><font size="4"><strong><a name="Keeping Healthy, Keeping Fit">Keeping Healthy, Keeping | |
| Fit</a></strong></font></p> | |
| <p><em><strong>by Lorel Linders, Cardiac Rehabilitation Coordinator</strong></em></p> | |
| <p>The Cardiac Rehabilitation Program has been operating at the Credit Valley Hospital for | |
| over ten years. There are approximately 150 participants in the program at any point in | |
| time. Total patient class visits have grown to over 6,000 per year. We are able to see a | |
| new patient every class. As a result we have managed to keep the waiting period for | |
| entrance into the program at a minimum.</p> | |
| <p>Individuals following myocardial infarction, bypass surgery, heart transplant, | |
| angioplasty or diagnosis of cardiovascular disease are assessed for cardiovascular risk | |
| factors, functional ability and risk of repeat events. Individual education and exercise | |
| programs are designed, and follow-up monitoring is arranged.</p> | |
| <p>We’ve seen a drastic increase in referrals to the program over the last few | |
| months. An aerobics program has been added to our walk/jog, cycling, rowing and strength | |
| training programs to accommodate these increased numbers. Special events include a Fall | |
| Walk-a-Thon and BBQ as well as our annual Christmas Party. We would like to thank the | |
| participants and volunteers whose enthusiasm and dedication have made these events hugely | |
| successful.</p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <p><font size="4"><strong><a name="New Mammography Machines Benefit Patients">New | |
| Mammography Machines Benefit Patients</a> </strong></font></p> | |
| <p><em><strong>by Helen Reilly</strong></em></p> | |
| <p><img src="March%20Web%20Pic's/Mammography.gif" alt="Mammography" align="left" WIDTH="252" HEIGHT="196">Shorter | |
| waiting times, double the throughput and lower doses of radiation -- three excellent | |
| reasons why the Diagnostic Imaging Department at CVH has installed two General Electric | |
| Senographe</p> | |
| <p>DMR Systems. Lynne Clark, the Assistant Technical Director for the Imaging Department | |
| says the new machines will reduce the current three-week waiting period by nearly half by | |
| allowing them to see twice as many patients.</p> | |
| <p>The Senographe DMR replaces the hospital's original mammography machine which has been | |
| in operation since the hospital opened in 1985. "Technology has improved in such a | |
| way that we can offer automatic optimization. The computer selects the appropriate | |
| exposure based on tissue density which results in a better image," Clarke says.</p> | |
| <p>"The computer provides a slower and lower dose resulting in reduced risk for the | |
| patient and consistent high-quality images since the speed decreases the possibility the | |
| patient might move during imaging," she adds.</p> | |
| <p>For the patient, this will mean that waiting times for testing will be reduced. In | |
| addition, the period of compression is expected to be shortened as a result of the | |
| computer's recognition of density which is otherwise determined by the mammography | |
| technician.</p> | |
| <p>The hospital's imaging department has seven trained mammography technicians on staff. | |
| Two additional staff members will be trained on the new mammography machine by the | |
| beginning of April. The implementation of two Senographe machines sets the stage for the | |
| hospital to become a CAR accredited site. The Canadian</p> | |
| <p>Association of Radiology grants accreditation based on its review of quality control | |
| records and mammograms for consistency of films over a one month period. The CAR reserves | |
| the right to survey the hospital at any time. Clarke says "I expect that we will move | |
| forward in the accreditation process as a result of this purchase and if we are | |
| successful, we should receive accreditation within six months."</p> | |
| <p>"Based on the fact that breast imaging is more and more important to women in the | |
| diagnosis of cancer, we are very excited about this state-of-the-art equipment which will | |
| help us improve upon the service we provide to our community," she adds.</p> | |
| <p>With the implementation of two new mammography machines and additional training for the | |
| mammography technicians, results will produce optimal film quality with each image. | |
| "The computerization feature is a big bonus for patients," Clarke says. | |
| Accreditation is the first step toward The Credit Valley Hospital receiving approval as an | |
| Ontario Breast Screening Site.</p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <p><font size="4"><strong><a name="Not Just Another Work Day!">Not Just Another Work Day!</a></strong></font></p> | |
| <p><em><strong>by Wendy Johnson APR</strong></em></p> | |
| <p><img src="March%20Web%20Pic's/Southwood%20Transcriptionist.gif" alt="Southwood" align="right" WIDTH="252" HEIGHT="173">Imagine every work day as "dress down day" complete with fluffy | |
| slippers and your favorite rumpled sweatshirt! Imagine taking a break from your computer | |
| to wander down stairs to throw in a load of laundry and raid the refrigerator. Doesn't | |
| sound too bad does it?</p> | |
| <p>That's what life's like for Kathryn Southward and fourteen other women who work | |
| "in" The Credit Valley Hospital's Health Records Department. They are medical | |
| language specialists, often referred to as medical transcriptionists. They're the ones who | |
| type up the information that is dictated by physicians and other health professionals to | |
| become part of each patient's record. But their desks are kilometres away from the | |
| hospital set up in a private corner in the comfort of their own homes. They work when they | |
| want to - all night long if they prefer. The work gets done but according to their | |
| personal timetables which are usually adjusted to their families' needs.</p> | |
| <p>The move to "work at home" happened for Kathryn in 1995. She found that it | |
| helped her manage her very busy homelife with her nine and five year old and 9 month old | |
| daughters. Her husband also travels regularly so it meant she wasn't constantly juggling | |
| schedules to accommodate their varied schedules.</p> | |
| <p>"It came along at a good time for me - the year my oldest daughter started school. | |
| I'm able to drop her off and pick her up from school. I drop my five year old and baby off | |
| at the babysitter's, come home, grab a coffee and get to work!"</p> | |
| <p>"We work flex hours so that if my daughter has something on at school I can go. I | |
| like to put in a few extra hours on the weekend so that I can take part of a day during | |
| the week to clean the house and go grocery shopping. If I'm not feeling well one day, I'll | |
| stop work and make up the time another day."</p> | |
| <p>"It’s nice to look out the window and see the birds," fellow | |
| transcriptionist Liz Solowoniuk says. "I don’t ever have to get dressed, | |
| there’re no shoes to get dirty…in fact all of my work shoes are in boxes! In the | |
| summer I start work really early so that I can go out and play in my garden in the | |
| afternoon!"</p> | |
| <p>Charmaine Shaw, the Director of Health Records at CVH says the transcriptionists' | |
| productivity has actually increased since they introduced the "work at home" | |
| scenario. "We projected a ten percent increase but we have actually achieved a 15% | |
| increase in productivity. The transcriptionists used to have the highest sick time in the | |
| department. Now they're close to perfect attendance." And the elimination of ten | |
| workstations at the hospital netted an additional 1200 square feet of space in the | |
| hospital which is hungry for additional patient space.</p> | |
| <p>The medical language specialists are much more than transcriptionists. "At CVH we | |
| do all types of dictation," Kathryn explains. "We take dictation from | |
| physiotherapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, surgeons, radiologists, pathologists and | |
| others. We need to know all of the medical terminology associated with each of those | |
| professions and the differences between certain terms that are the same."</p> | |
| <p>Just the other day transcriptionist Kath Toth heard the term "miracle study" | |
| on her dictation. "This was a new term for me. So I went online to the | |
| transcriptionists users group and asked if anyone else was familiar with it. I had my | |
| answer within minutes. Everyone is very helpful."</p> | |
| <p>Each of the transcriptionist's home offices are ergonomically correct. Kathryn recalls, | |
| "We were the first in the hospital to have ergonomically correct chairs. We were | |
| given assessment sheets by occupational health so that we could ensure that our computers | |
| andchairs were positioned to meet our personal needs."</p> | |
| <p>Health Records Director, Charmaine Shaw, says when they decided to move transcription | |
| into the home in 1995, she and Mark Farrow, Director of the hospital's Information Systems | |
| developed a protocol that would ensure patient confidentiality. "The | |
| transcriptionists do not create a hard copy of the health record. All of the information | |
| they transcribe is transmitted back to the hospital. All information is protected by | |
| passwords. The computers time-out automatically which means the transcriptionists will | |
| have to reenter a password in order to return to their work. We do regular system audits | |
| to ensure our transcriptionists (and all other hospital personnel) are not accessing | |
| information that would breach patient confidentiality."</p> | |
| <p>Tricia Ladouceur supervises the medical transcriptionists. She says she never worries | |
| that the work won’t get done. "The staff is very dedicated. There’s always | |
| someone on-line so the customer is always being served."</p> | |
| <p>The work at home scenario isn’t for everybody. "I tried it for a few months | |
| but I missed socializing with people at work." So Lydia Butkovic opted to return to | |
| CVH as the lone full-time, in-house transcriptionist. She works a more regimented, nine to | |
| five, Monday through Friday, which she says, is much more to her liking.</p> | |
| <p>Unlike Lydia, Kathryn doesn't miss the chats around the coffee machine or the personal | |
| contact with fellow transcriptionists. "We meet every other month at the office the | |
| odd time we'll send each other a message or a joke to lighten our day." Besides, she | |
| has the company of her husband, James, who also works at home. Asked if that's just too | |
| much togetherness Kathryn quips, "We tease each other that that's how our third | |
| daughter came about!"</p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <p ALIGN="left"><font size="4"><strong><a name="Laughter Truly Is The Best Medicine">Laughter | |
| Truly Is The Best Medicine</a></strong></font></p> | |
| <p ALIGN="left"><em><strong>By Helen Reilly</strong></em></p> | |
| <p><img src="March%20Web%20Pic's/Patch%20Adams.gif" alt="Adams" align="left" WIDTH="252" HEIGHT="185">When Ian | |
| Sinclair, Associate Vice President at The Credit Valley Hospital attended a health care | |
| design symposium in California in 1995, he didn’t expect he would be shopping in a | |
| "Good Will" used clothing shop for the most outrageous outfit he could find and | |
| wandering the streets of San Diego. Part of the symposium was a hands-on | |
| "clowning" workshop offered by Hunter (Patch) Adams – yes, the same Patch | |
| Adams featured in the Robin Williams big screen movie. Patch believed, and obviously the | |
| symposium organizers agreed, that humour should be integrated into the health care | |
| continuum.</p> | |
| <p>When Sinclair, along with 18 others from the conference who selected Patch’s | |
| workshop, emerged from the used clothing store, they were sized up by Patch personally. | |
| Upon careful examination, he decided Sinclair’s outfit required something he | |
| couldn’t quite put his finger on. In one fell swoop, the 6’6" Patch grabbed | |
| Sinclair’s ankles and slid his pants up past his knees to reveal his bare legs under | |
| the oversized colourful pants – "Perfect!" he declared as he moved on to | |
| the next clown participant. </p> | |
| <p>Equipped with their clown clothing and related paraphanalia, the group boarded a bus | |
| and departed for the local children’s hospital. A public relations representative met | |
| the group at the door and outlined the numerous rules pertaining to their visit. When she | |
| finished her spiel, Patch promptly offered a prize from his bag of goodies to thank her | |
| and approached with a tightly closed hand. As his hand unclenched, the public relations | |
| director was the recipient of a small plastic pile of "doggie doo-doo." She, | |
| like many more to follow, could only laugh!</p> | |
| <p>Patch promptly positioned himself behind the hospital administrator’s desk. | |
| Spinning in his chair and making pretend telephone calls, the administrator admitted | |
| Patch’s small intervention "made his day," Sinclair says. The group members | |
| dispersed to units around the hospital and were warmly greeted with hugs and squeals from | |
| nurses, physicians and hospital staff.</p> | |
| <p>Sinclair recalls a moment when he and his clowning partner entered the room of a | |
| motionless five-year-old boy. His mother sat quietly at his bedside while his father lay | |
| back asleep in a chair. Given the opportunity, they began to work the magic of clowning. | |
| Together, with an oversized comb and scissors, they pretended to apply shaving cream to | |
| the sleeping father in "mime" and proceeded to shave him and give him an | |
| imaginary hair cut while he slept! While his mother thought the clowns were hilarious, the | |
| boy didn’t move, save for the few tears rolling down his face. "There was no | |
| laughter but we knew that inside, he was laughing," Sinclair says. "The purpose | |
| of this exercise was as much to explore ourselves as it was to bring fun to a solemn | |
| environment – it’s an experience I’ll not soon forget," he continues. </p> | |
| <p>Sinclair, who is responsible for the hospital’s existing and future building | |
| projects, hopes to bring more to The Credit Valley Hospital’s physical structures to | |
| foster a healing environment for our patients. Only now that the concept has been | |
| popularized by pioneers such as Patch Adams will the opportunity to build healing | |
| environments be supported by health care institutions. Of future planning projects, | |
| Sinclair says "I hope to incorporate healing environments into plans for the cancer | |
| centre." The concept that laughter can improve upon one’s health, despite its | |
| intangible quality, is becoming an accepted form of therapy in more and more medical | |
| circles including The Credit Valley Hospital.</p> | |
| <p><img src="March%20Web%20Pic's/1C%20Playground.gif" alt="Playground" align="right" WIDTH="252" HEIGHT="165">When | |
| he returned from the symposium, Sinclair brought a new perspective to the planning table. | |
| The transformation of the hospital’s playground outside the paediatric unit into a | |
| "Musical Garden" reflects his plan to create healing environments as part of the | |
| hospital. The garden features arches providing children with access to chimes from a | |
| wheelchair, bed or on foot. At night, the garden is lit with mini lights giving it a | |
| fairy-tale atmosphere.</p> | |
| <p>Patch Adams, Founder of the Gesundheit Institute, is best known for his unique approach | |
| to medicine in the 1960’s. He broke new ground with his belief in treating the whole | |
| person; not only the patient’s physical ailments. To this day, he does not charge | |
| patients for treatment at the Institute because he does not believe healing should be | |
| conducted within the business model. Sinclair says "Patch maintains practitioners | |
| should have passion for healing. He has practiced for 30 years in the United States | |
| without malpractice insurance. He believes that insurance implies the physician and | |
| patient don’t trust one another. As far as Patch is concerned, healing is all about | |
| trust."</p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <b> | |
| <p ALIGN="left"></b><font size="4"><strong><a name="Streetsville Childrens Centre Benefits CVH Oncology">Streetsville Childrens Centre | |
| Benefits CVH Oncology</a></strong></font></p> | |
| <p ALIGN="left"><em><strong>by Heather Hadden</strong></em></p> | |
| <p>Many thanks to the Streetsville Childrens Centre (SCC) for its successful Fifth Annual | |
| Valentine’s Day Dance to benefit the oncology program at The Credit Valley Hospital. </p> | |
| <p>The evening was in memory of former CVH cancer patients, Donna Graham & Cathy Cox, | |
| whose children attended SCC. The event was also dedicated to those whose lives have been | |
| touched by cancer. A large card was signed by many people in attendance remembering | |
| friends and relatives. Previously this event has raised over $4,646.00 to purchase a | |
| blanket warmer and a commode chair for 2C. This year’s event raised another $1,000.00 | |
| for the oncology programme.</p> | |
| <p>Jacky Sheppard & her "dance team" organized the event this year at | |
| Otello's Banquet hall. It included a dinner dance and plenty of wonderful door prizes. | |
| Dozens of generous vendors from the community made donations to the prize bank.</p> | |
| <p>Jacky Sheppard is a remarkable woman. Not only does she direct two locations of The | |
| Streetsville Childrens Centre but she is constantly running events through the school that | |
| benefit the community. Most recently, their fall "M&M's" sales went to help | |
| rebuild the Anglican Church in Streetsville and in March, the children will raise money | |
| for muscular dystrophy. Jacky is also a volunteer member of The Credit Valley Hospital | |
| Palliative Care Team. </p> | |
| <p>To you Jacky and from the oncology programme of The Credit Valley Hospital we thank you | |
| and your staff for your time & efforts.</p> | |
| <p align="center"> <a href="#Top"> To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <p><font size="4"><strong><a name="The Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program">The Alcohol and | |
| Drug Treatment Program</a></strong></font></p> | |
| <p><em><strong>by Gwenne Woodward, Clinical Coordinator</strong></em></p> | |
| <p>The Credit Valley Hospital Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program is an outpatient | |
| community-based service for adults who are experiencing physical and emotional | |
| complications from their substance use. These substances will include alcohol, | |
| prescription medication, and what I known in the field as illicit drugs. Our service | |
| begins with an Information Night for prospective clients and their families and may | |
| include medical assessment and follow-up; psychiatric assessment; pre-treatment groups; | |
| day treatment (three week outpatient lifestyle change program); recovery groups (Stage I, | |
| II,III); alumni group; relapse prevention; family day and family workshop series. All | |
| inquiries about our service can be forwarded to (905) 813-4402, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | |
| Monday through Friday.</p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <p><font size="4"><strong><a name="The Credit Valley Hospital Expansion Project Awaits Government Approval">The Credit | |
| Valley Hospital Expansion Project Awaits Government Approval</a></strong></font></p> | |
| <p>It’s no secret The Credit Valley Hospital is literally bursting at the seams. The <i>community | |
| hospital</i> serves a population of 350,000 in its primary catchment area.</p> | |
| <p>The area right outside our doors – between highways 403 and 401 is the highest | |
| growth area in the province. The population has grown by 18 % (35,275) within the last two | |
| years --from 190,320 in 1996, to 225,595 in 1998. The experts say the area will grow again | |
| by an additional 32% between now and 2003. </p> | |
| <p>As noted in "Juggling Patients and Priorities" article, also in this edition | |
| of the newspaper, the demands on our system are most evident in the emergency room. | |
| Although most emergency rooms experience long waits and huge influxes of patients during | |
| the winter months, the problem is critical at The Credit Valley Hospital because of the | |
| rapid growth in population. Sicker people, many requiring admission to hospital, but few, | |
| if any, inpatient beds, result in serious backlogs in the emergency department. </p> | |
| <p>"Just send them to the nursing units anyway…put them in the halls!" many | |
| people suggest. It’s really not that simple. First and foremost, many of the patients | |
| need special beds and monitoring devices. You simply cannot put them on a stretcher in a | |
| hall – it’s a matter of patient safety. </p> | |
| <p>"What about beds that were closed as a result of restructuring?" others ask. | |
| Last year, despite the lack of funding to do so, The Credit Valley Hospital opened ____ | |
| beds in order to deal with the bed crisis. You may recall, in December, the Ministry | |
| announced special funding in order to cover the additional costs associated with opening | |
| those beds. </p> | |
| <p>The additional one-time funding was welcome relief to balance this year’s budget. | |
| But it was a temporary solution to a problem that’s growing out of hand in our | |
| hospital. What is really necessary, is a review of our funding formula based on our | |
| increasing demand on our services. The good news is, a review is taking place. It will | |
| take into account the population growth and the resulting demand for more beds and other | |
| services.</p> | |
| <p>More money alone will not solve our problems. In order to meet the existing needs of | |
| our population and those projected for the next five years, we must expand. Part of the | |
| reason is because many of our ambulatory (walk-in, walk- out) care services are housed in | |
| space formerly used for inpatient care. These services, such as renal dialysis and | |
| oncology, require the support services such as laboratory and diagnostic imaging (x-ray, | |
| CATscan, ultrasound etc.) so they need to be in, or in close proximity, to the hospital. </p> | |
| <p>There’s another wrinkle in this whole picture. Not only is The Credit Valley | |
| Hospital meeting the needs as a community hospital, it also has a regional responsibility. | |
| The hospital provides a <i>regional </i>services for renal dialysis and genetics research. | |
| In this role, The Credit Valley Hospital serves the people of Mississauga (597,000) as | |
| well as those living in Halton and Peel Regions – close to a million people! </p> | |
| <p>Maternal and Child Services and Oncology are also to become regional services as | |
| directed by the Health Services Restructuring Commission. The HSRC recognized that a | |
| population of our size requires these types of special care services closer to home. </p> | |
| <p>We agree. But even more patients means even more demand on inpatient as well as | |
| outpatient services and the support services that are required for diagnostic purposes. </p> | |
| <p>The Ministry of Health has asked us to come up with a plan to house the programs and | |
| the equipment required to meet the HSRC directives. Although many people refer to the plan | |
| as the plan for the new Regional Cancer Centre, it truly is much larger than that. It is | |
| an <i>expansion plan</i> that incorporates the needs of both our community patients – | |
| for more inpatient and ambulatory care services -- and our responsibilities as a regional | |
| centre for cancer, paediatric, renal and genetics services. </p> | |
| <p>At the end of 1998, the CVH submitted a plan to the Ministry of Health for its review | |
| and approval. We hope to have a decision from the ministry very soon. One thing is for | |
| certain, we’re going to have to have the public’s financial support to pay for a | |
| share of the project. We’ll keep you abreast of our progress in upcoming issues of | |
| "A Credit To Your Health."</p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <p><font size="4"><strong><a name="The Credit Valley Hospital Foundation: For Your Good Health">The Credit Valley | |
| Hospital Foundation: For Your <i>Good</i> Health</a></strong></font></p> | |
| <p><strong><em>by Anissa Conlin</em></strong></p> | |
| <p>A special word of thanks is due to the Shoppers Drug Mart Stores of Mississauga who | |
| presented The Credit Valley Hospital Foundation with a cheque for $4,000 raised at their | |
| 11<sup>th</sup> Annual Shoppers Drug Mart Slo-pitch tournament.</p> | |
| <p>The Credit Valley Hospital Foundation is grateful to The Park Mansion Social committee | |
| for donating a number of toys and $225 to the Hospital at Christmas time.</p> | |
| <p>We applaud the initiative and generosity of Sherri Croft, Sales Representative with | |
| Prudential Realty, who is donating 10% of her sales commission to The Credit Valley | |
| Hospital Foundation at the request of her clients.</p> | |
| <p>A special thank you to the Meadowvale Streetsville Bridge Club members who donated | |
| their registration fees to our Hospital. Anyone interested in playing with the club and | |
| supporting CVH at the same time, can contact Sheila Elston at 820-3500.</p> | |
| <b> | |
| <p></b>We thank our generous donors and urge members of our community to support The | |
| Credit Valley Hospital Foundation.</p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <p><font size="4"><strong><a name="Tom’s Story – Confessions of An Addict">Tom’s | |
| Story – Confessions of An Addict</a></strong></font></p> | |
| <p><em><strong>by Tom R.</strong></em></p> | |
| <p>Try to understand that the terrible fear seems to have no source. It is ubiquitous and | |
| paralyzing. We shake and rattle inside. We talk incessantly or not at all. We eat | |
| sporadically and sleep little, lying to everybody automatically. "Sure I slept fine | |
| thank you." To ‘sleep well’ meant a couple hours on the couch -- the bed | |
| staying empty and cold.</p> | |
| <p>We haven’t had any booze or drugs in a day or a week and the effort to quit is why | |
| we are at the information night of the Credit Valley Drug and Alcohol program (see | |
| "The Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program" also in this issue). It is a Wednesday | |
| at 6:00 p.m. over in the basement of the professional building and the place is filled | |
| with boozers and users like me and one straight person, the "facilitator". The | |
| room yells ‘institution!’ at my paranoid brain but there is no smell. The place | |
| vibrates and gets smaller….at least it seemed that way to me.</p> | |
| <p>We come in for different reasons. One of my group came via the courts and stayed in | |
| denial. A woman came via the psychiatric ward and learned she was an alcoholic in the | |
| program. I came from the streets and had an awful surety that I was thoroughly addicted to | |
| many substances and I was going to die if I didn’t get my act together.</p> | |
| <p>But when you asked me why I came to the program I didn’t say it was because my | |
| intestines were shot (I passed nothing but blood and water for months) and it wasn’t | |
| because someone said I had to. I came in because I was so unbelievably lonely. Please | |
| believe me when I say that it was a physical pain in my chest. It wasn’t a knot. It | |
| was a flame. I couldn’t take it any more. And suicide is a question of degrees you | |
| know. I had tried emotional suicide: obliteration of self with substances. It sucked. And | |
| real death had little appeal for me. I sat in the information night and inside I was | |
| screaming. It was a constant wail in me. What lay ahead was a huge se of unknown. But I | |
| chose to trust the people at the program give it a go.</p> | |
| <p>My name is Tom and I went through the program in the Fall of 1995. Since then I have | |
| done an awful lot of hard work on how I live. The largest chunk of that work was in the | |
| three week day program. I am fond of letting people know that over three years later, I | |
| knowingly use things I was taught at the program <b>every single day. </b>They keep me in | |
| line and that keeps me sober.</p> | |
| <p>Now, to look at what I was taught one could use life as a metaphor. It was that large. | |
| I was taught the basic of living and coping and now do it on my own. I have my health, the | |
| love of my family and respect of my friends. Next year my little business will most likely | |
| pay taxes! That would be humorous if it wasn’t such a sad indicator of my life in the | |
| previous twenty years. I hadn’t paid a dime in over 15 years, I had been scamming | |
| welfare for about eight years, was constantly involved in petty fraud and in the last year | |
| was visiting my MD weekly, getting costly ultrasounds, x-rays and bloodwork.</p> | |
| <p>Next time I see my doctor it will be may yearly check-up. I will get weighted and get | |
| prodded and get out for another year.</p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <b> | |
| <p ALIGN="left"></b><font size="4"><strong><a name="Triage – What’s It All About?">Triage – What’s It All About?</a></strong></font></p> | |
| <p ALIGN="left"><em><strong>by Eric Letovsky, MD, CM, MCFP(EM), FRCP(C)</strong></em></p> | |
| <p ALIGN="left"><em><strong>Chief, Department of Emergency Medicine, The Credit Valley | |
| Hospital</strong></em></p> | |
| <p>The word "triage" is derived from the French verb <i>"trier"</i>, | |
| meaning "to sift or sort". The first medical use of this term was actually on | |
| the battlefields, where injured soldiers were triaged, or sorted, as to who would require | |
| immediate life-saving treatment, and those who could wait for delayed treatment. Today, if | |
| you have ever been to a hospital emergency department, the first individual you usually | |
| see is a triage nurse. This individual is usually one of the more experienced emergency | |
| department nurses, whose primary function is to obtain a very focused and brief history, | |
| and a rapid physical assessment, in order to determine the severity of illness. Triaging | |
| is essential because of the nature of emergency departments. Patients often arrive in | |
| large numbers at the same time, with varying severity of problems, to facilities that have | |
| limited resources. Therefore, it is essential to have an efficient triage system that can | |
| rapidly and safely determine which patients need to be seen as a priority, and which | |
| patients can safely wait to be seen.</p> | |
| <p>Up until now, most Canadian emergency departments have used the three-level system of | |
| triage. Patients have been classically triaged into Emergent, Urgent, or Non-Urgent. This | |
| system, while seemingly simple and obvious, has major disadvantages and drawbacks. The | |
| most obvious disadvantage is that those patients who are categorized as having an urgent | |
| problem may vary tremendously in the conditions that they have, and it has become clear | |
| that we need a more sophisticated system of categorizing patient severity. In 1998, the | |
| Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, in association with the National Emergency | |
| Nurses Association, decided to adopt a five-level triage system in an effort to make the | |
| triage system more accurate and easier to differentiate sicker patients. This five-level | |
| triage system is scheduled to be implemented at Credit Valley on April 1, 1999, and will | |
| be up and running in most Canadian hospitals by June 30, 1999. Currently, emergency | |
| departments all over Ontario are training their physicians and nurses about how to | |
| implement this new system, and a recent provincial symposium was hosted by Credit Valley | |
| Hospital’s Emergency Department to train nurses from across the province.</p> | |
| <p>We are confident that this new system will enhance our ability to sort out the more | |
| urgent and sicker patients who present to emergency departments, and allow us to more | |
| quickly implement treatments and improve patient outcome. While the average patient going | |
| to an emergency department may not notice any major changes to the system, several changes | |
| to the process will undoubtedly help us better evaluate patient illnesses when they | |
| present to emergency departments.</p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <b> | |
| <p ALIGN="left"></b><font size="4"><strong><a name="Volunteering - Then and Now">Volunteering | |
| - Then and Now</a></strong></font></p> | |
| <p ALIGN="left"><em><strong>by volunteer, Wendy Johnson</strong></em></p> | |
| <p>When I heard that The Credit Valley Hospital was going to open in 1985, I decided that | |
| I would offer my services as a volunteer. I knew that I would like to work in the Gift | |
| Shop even though I had no experience in that area.</p> | |
| <p>With a feeling of apprehension I approached Square One where the Volunteer Offices were | |
| located. The interview seemed to be all right and I settled back to await the outcome. | |
| Many weeks later when I was sure I failed to meet their requirements, I received a call | |
| and was told to come to an initial meeting of all volunteers. We were warmly welcomed. | |
| After a period of reticence and shyness, we began to relate to one another.</p> | |
| <p>The great thing about a totally new venture is that you are not the odd one out or the | |
| newest volunteer. We were given our areas to work in and I began to meet the Gift Shop | |
| volunteers with whom I’d be working. We had many training sessions learning how to | |
| use the cash register, how to make a float, how to tally at the end of the shift, and what | |
| was most important to us, the Gift Shop location and how to get there.</p> | |
| <p>The Gift Shop, painted in wedgewood blue, was very small but the buyers had done a good | |
| job of getting things in place for the opening. We began our jobs before the hospital | |
| opened for patients, so we had a chance to practice. Our jobs included replenishing the | |
| supplies of candy, magazines and cards, keeping the shop clean and serving customers. At | |
| the end of the shift we rejoiced if we balanced and if we were over or under twenty-five | |
| cents. I remember waking up in the middle of the night suddenly realizing where we had | |
| gone wrong! The treasurers, who would follow a paper trail that led them to our mistakes, | |
| have been a patient lot.</p> | |
| <p>Although we have made over a million dollars for the Hospital, I don’t think this | |
| is the bottom line for most of us. As we became more confident in our work, we knew that | |
| this job is a special place to relate to staff, patients and visitors. We cried with the | |
| parents whose baby was very ill; we looked forward each week to the doctor who always | |
| bought special chocolate bars from us; we cheered as Tony, one of the first patients, got | |
| better each week.</p> | |
| <p>We came to know each other better as we worked together. I have grown so much from | |
| watching and listening to the women who go by the title of "Monday Girls". We | |
| have lost some of our members over the years, but new ones who have come along seem to be | |
| ideal replacements. Most of us have put in over a thousand hours of volunteer time. Our | |
| get-togethers at the social level outside the hospital are always great fun.</p> | |
| <p>Currently, we are learning how to use a new register, just as we learned how to operate | |
| a register in 1985. We are proud that all money raised goes to the hospital and in this | |
| way we are continuing to be a service for others. With the many experiences behind us, | |
| we’re ready for the new millennium and the challenges and friendships that go with | |
| it!</p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <b> | |
| <p></b><a name="Wayne’s World"><font size="4"><strong>Wayne’s World</strong></font></a></p> | |
| <p><strong><em>by D. Wayne Fyffe, B.A., DHA, CHE</em></strong></p> | |
| <p><strong><em>President and Chief Executive Officer, The Credit Valley Hospital</em></strong></p> | |
| <p><img src="March%20Web%20Pic's/D.%20Wayne%20Fyffe.gif" alt="Wayne" align="right" WIDTH="158" HEIGHT="216">We hope | |
| you find this first edition of "A Credit To Your Health" interesting and | |
| informative. Our intent is to inform you about health care and the future of The Credit | |
| Valley Hospital.</p> | |
| <p>Some of you will remember when the hospital opened in 1985, in what was then, an empty | |
| field. Who would have imagined that 14 years later we would be a large, sophisticated | |
| hospital that is running out of physical space to serve our growing community?!</p> | |
| <p>It is probably no surprise to you that the Region of Peel is the fastest growing | |
| community in Ontario. And the City of Mississauga is now the 6<sup>th</sup> largest city | |
| in Canada. Did you know that the population served by The Credit Valley Hospital grew by | |
| 48% in the last 5 years and will grow by 32% over the next 5 years? If it sounds like | |
| "my world" is preoccupied by growth issues, you’re right!</p> | |
| <p>We are doing everything we can to maximize the use of our existing physical buildings | |
| so that we can serve you better. We are acutely aware that waiting times for emergency | |
| services and for tests and surgery, are too long. We are hopeful that the government of | |
| Ontario will soon announce new funding strategies which will be sensitive to the needs of | |
| rapidly growing communities like ours. We also anxiously await approval to move ahead with | |
| long-awaited construction projects like the Peel Regional Cancer Centre, the regional | |
| program for high risk Child and Maternal Care, and the additional inpatient beds and | |
| related outpatient diagnostic testing and support services.</p> | |
| <p>If this newsletter receives a positive response, we intend to use it to keep you | |
| informed as we proceed with the necessary construction and new programs and services at | |
| The Credit Valley Hospital. As always, your comments and feedback are welcome!</p> | |
| <p align="center"><a href="#Top">To Top</a></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| <p> </p> | |
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