Many ways to care for a community

If there can be any silver lining found in the health care chaos of the last three years, it’s that care provider organizations recognize the benefits of collaboration and innovation to respond to the needs of the greater community.

For example, the COVID-19 pandemic generated a significant backlog in surgical cases across the province. To help address waitlists in the region, St. Joe’s brought four dormant operating rooms back to life with a $2.7 million cash injection from the Ontario government. The newly revamped suites have enabled St. Joe’s to perform an additional 2800 procedures annually.

The redeveloped operating theatres are benefitting other hospitals in the region as well. Fully staffed by specialized peri-operative nurses from St. Joe’s, surgeons in Hamilton- Niagara- Haldimand- Brant- Burlington (HNHBB), are making use of the surgical suites for their own cases.

“Our staff understand the burden patients have faced dealing with delays to surgeries because of the pandemic,” says Deanna Burnet, director of clinical programs at St. Joe’s. “They understand the importance of serving our patients, and the benefits this will have for the broader community.”

The government funding allowed for renovation of the original spaces with the purchase of new lighting, tile flooring and special doors. It also covered much needed capital expenditures including operating room tables, cardiac monitors, anesthesia machines, and laparoscopic equipment.

The Satellite Health Facility is another pandemic generated initiative that partnered health care with a prominent property management company. Located in a downtown hotel space, the building was completely refurbished to meet specific hospital standards for infection control and patient care. St. Joe’s and Hamilton Health Sciences staffed the facility with interprofessional clinical teams as well as primary care physicians. The space was designed for people who no longer require hospital care and are awaiting transfer to a community-based location.

The Satellite Health Facility was opened about six months into the pandemic. Moving patients who needed an alternate level of care into the refurbished hotel was a way of opening up beds at the Charlton Campus for people who acquired COVID-19 and needed to be admitted to hospital.

Today, St. Joe’s continues to make use of the facility. 60 patients who would normally be at the Charlton site waiting for transition into the community, are now being cared for in the hotel setting, saving the acute level beds for those in most need.

Developing new methods to meet the needs of the community has been a priority at St. Joe’s. Virtual Urgent Care is among the newest initiatives. Initially designed to prevent people with non-emergent conditions from coming into the Emergency Department, it allows people to sign-up online for a same-day appointment with a nurse practitioner. The appointment can be conducted over the phone or through a video call. Located at St. Joe’s Urgent Care Centre, the nurse practitioner can determine if the patient requires a more thorough assessment in person, a medication or a follow-up appointment with their family physician.

This virtual platform for health care is a unique way to prevent people from making unnecessary trips to the Emergency Department, while still providing appropriate care.

Some initiatives only need to be temporary. Last year, St. Joe’s partnered with primary care physicians to operate a Flu, COVID & Cold Clinic at the West 5th campus. The goal of the clinic was to provide both adults and children with timely care, while reducing the number of patients visiting emergency departments for respiratory illnesses commonly seen throughout the fall and winter.

St. Joe’s is an organization with many specialties, from mental health to kidney care. One that can be overlooked is its ability to respond quickly to the changing needs of the community it serves, and providing the right care, at the right time, in the right place.