| News |
 |
 |
 |
|
Annual Report View our Annual General Meeting 2008 Report (PDF) News 2010 From big machines to small bandaids 2009 Hospital doctors win national award for clinical excellence 2008 GGH and WWLHIN announce initiative to develop balanced budget Hospital marks first year of participation in Ontario Breast Screening ProgramGUELPH, ON, March 12 - For the past year, Guelph General Hospital (GGH) has been an affiliated partner of the Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP). During that time, GGH has screened approximately 600 patients in its Diagnostic Imaging department resulting in the early detection of two diagnosed breast cancers. "It is through early detection that lives are saved. We at GGH are proud to help those patients within our community," says Mike Sharma, Director of Diagnostic Imaging. "Although there is still quite a way to go in reaching the Provincial goal of screening 70 per cent of all women, the Waterloo-Wellington region continues to grow in the number of women screened through OBSP." During the past year, 20 per cent of all mammograms carried out in Diagnostic Imaging at GGH were OBSP patients. "We hope this number will continue to grow," Sharma says. GGH and WWLHIN announce initiative to develop balanced budget Last night, the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network (WWLHIN) Board of Directors approved the appointment of a Coaching Team to assist Guelph General Hospital (GGH) in developing a plan to bring the hospital into a balanced financial operating position for 2009/10. This must be done within the existing funding allocation and planning targets to allow GGH to sign the 2008/10 Hospital Service Accountability Agreement (H-SAA). The appointment of a Coaching Team is welcomed by both GGH and the WWLHIN who have worked together to develop the Team’s terms of reference and its membership. “At GGH, we have demonstrated we are an efficiently run organization and the appointment of this Coaching Team is good news,” says Richard Ernst, GGH’s President & CEO. “While we have been in a balanced position for the past ten years, we know we must continue to seek options available to us for balancing our budget. We are confident we can rise to the challenge of the current fiscal situation.” GGH’s estimated budget deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2009 is $2 million. Its projected deficit for the 2009/2010 budget year, which starts April 1, 2009, is $3 million. GGH’s annual budget is approximately $115 million. “The plan’s development will also focus on programs and services that fit within the WWLHIN's system-wide mandate for health care delivery in Waterloo and Wellington,” says Sandra Hanmer, WWLHIN CEO. “We’ll be working closely with all of our health service providers to ensure the delivery of high quality programs and services continue.” The Coaching Team will include nursing, physician and financial expertise. Additional expertise will be added to the Team as needed. It is anticipated it will be comprised of leaders from other hospitals and its membership should be finalized and announced in early December when it will begin gathering information. “The hospital will be cooperating fully with meeting the Team’s information needs and will be working closely with the WWLHIN,” Ernst says. “We’ll be sharing more information as it develops but it is expected that details of the balanced budget plan won’t be available to the public until mid-March. In the meantime, our focus will always remain on living our Mission, “Together with our community and guided by our values, we provide quality, patient-centred health care.” GGH is a dynamic, comprehensive acute care facility providing a full range of services to the residents of Guelph and Wellington County. Services include 24-hour emergency coverage, advanced technology and diagnostic support, and specialty programs such as surgery, orthopaedics, cardiac care, obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatrics. In its capacity as a community and referral hospital, GGH serves a population of 180,000 people throughout Guelph and Wellington County. The Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network is responsible for planning, integrating, coordinating and funding close to 100 health service providers including hospitals, long-term care homes, community support services, community health centres, the Community Care Access Centre and community mental health and addictions agencies in Waterloo Region, Wellington County and South Grey. The WWLHIN operates an annual health care budget of close to $823 million. Hospital Restricting Visitors On Three Medical Units
GUELPH, ON, Nov. 20 – Guelph General Hospital is currently experiencing an outbreak of a virus on its 4 West medical unit. In addition, it is already dealing with an ongoing challenge with VRE in two other medical units. (Naturally found in the bowels of humans, VRE is a bacteria that has become resistant to an antibiotic called Vancomycin) As a precautionary measure and until further notice, all hospital visiting to those three units, 4 East, 4 West and 7 East, will be strictly limited to those visiting critically ill or palliative patients. Family and friends are encouraged to contact patients by telephone instead or email them through the hospital’s web site. Those planning to visit should first call ahead to the patient care unit to see if they will be permitted to visit. “We need to be aggressive in our infection control practices to get on top of this,” says Eileen Bain, VP Patient Care and Chief Nursing Executive. “We’ve learned from the experiences of both hospitals in Kitchener that strong measures are needed. We know this places a hardship on our patients and their families and for that we’re very sorry.” It is also important that anyone planning to visit the hospital who has unexplained symptoms such as diarrhea or vomiting should stay away and call instead. In addition to visitor restrictions, the hospital has implemented a variety of infection control practices including enhanced environmental cleaning, contact precautions with all patients in affected units and routine screening of all admissions. “We’re working closely with Public Health officials, the Waterloo Wellington Infection Control Network and our community partners on measures to maintain patient services on the patient care units,” Bain says. “In addition to limiting movement to and from the units, extra nursing staff, housekeeping and support staff have been put in place.” The gastrointestinal outbreak coincides with an increased incidence of the virus in the community at large. The Norovirus is a common virus that causes diarrhea and vomiting in humans. The best way to prevent spread of the contagious virus is with thorough hand washing. The small viruses are hard to detect and are commonly responsible for outbreaks in places where people are in close proximity to each other. Symptoms usually appear within two days of being exposed to just a few of the viruses. There is a sudden onset with illness lasting one to two days. Recovery is usually complete with no serious long-term consequences. Hospital Launches "Just Clean Your Hands" program Sept. 18 – Guelph General Hospital is introducing a program called Just Clean Your Hands as part of a province-wide initiative to improve hand hygiene by healthcare providers, Richard Ernst, President and CEO, announced today. “Our hospital and other hospitals in Ontario are at the leading edge of a worldwide movement to improve patient and healthcare provider safety by improving hand hygiene,” said Ernst. “Clean hands must become part of the workplace culture for healthcare providers to improve their hand hygiene.” The Just Clean Your Hands program includes leadership, education, environmental changes, the right hand-cleaning products at the point of care, a skin care program, visual reminders and measurement to create a “clean hands” culture within a hospital. Just Clean Your Hands is an evidence-based program developed by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care that builds on the work done by World Health Organization. It is specifically designed for Ontario hospitals and was successfully pilot tested in 10 Ontario hospitals. “When our healthcare providers clean their hands before and after touching each patient, it helps stop germs from spreading,” said Ernst. “We want to prevent our patients from getting these infections in the first place, and good hand hygiene will work towards that.” In Canada, about 250,000 people – or one out of every nine patients each year – pick up infections while being treated for something else. Every year, more than 8,000 die from those infections. GGH names "Volunteer of the Year" As part of Volunteer Appreciation Week, Guelph General Hospital recognized its Volunteer of the Year at an appreciation evening last Thursday. The Mary Hales “Volunteer of the Year” for 2008 is Chuck Bull. He has been a volunteer since 2002 and for the past three years has given of his time in GGH’s Emergency Department. In addition to his regular weekly shift, Chuck is also one of the trainers for new ER volunteers, guiding them with his years of experience. “Chuck has a great sense of humour,” says Laura Hutchings, Director Volunteer Services. “He covers shifts as often as he can and is always ready to help out the patients and staff in our Emergency Department.” The Guelph General Hospital Volunteer Association has over 200 volunteers who provide support for 24 services throughout the hospital. Its volunteers contribute in excess of 25,000 hours of service each year. Black Tie Bingo Surpasses $1 million dollar mark It was an exciting moment on Saturday night when Suzanne Bone, Executive Director of The Foundation of Guelph General Hospital announced to 420 Black Tie Bingo guests that their efforts had helped push the total raised in the gala’s 12-year history to over $1 million. “I’m not aware of any other gala in the area that has made this milestone," said Bone. "It speaks to the generosity of our sponsors and guests, who over the years have helped us purchase equipment for virtually every area of the Hospital.” This year, more than $130,000 was raised at the event. As always, the evening culminated in five exciting games of bingo. The grand prize-winner of a trip for two to Russia was Shelly Lockhart. She and her fiancée Brian Dolmar were set to book their July honeymoon this week, but now will be seeing Moscow and St. Petersburg instead of Quebec City! The beautiful Reid Hall at the Village by the Arboretum was transformed to capture the elegant feel of Imperial Russia. The Russian-inspired props including onion domes and palatial columns created by students from St. James Catholic High School, the Matroyska (nesting) dolls, and the photo booth complete with a backdrop of the Hermitage Museum added to the mood. The beautifully attired guests were treated to A Night with the Tsars, courtesy of Presenting Sponsor Westminster Woods, Gold Sponsor MacMillan Marketing Group, Silver Sponsors Carlson Wagonlit International Travel, Danby Products Ltd, Guelph Kia and Sleeman Breweries, as well as our many Bronze Sponsors, Supporters and Friends. Guests bid on over 150 silent and live auction prizes including trips to Las Vegas and Florida, golf and spa packages, jewellery, fine wine, clothing, home décor items and more. They also purchased raffle tickets for the opportunity to win one of three great prizes including an 18 kt gold Faberge egg inspired pendant donated by Knar Jewellery. The Foundation of Guelph General Hospital was established in 1987. Since that time, more than $27 million has been raised to help Guelph General Hospital fulfill its mission - “Together with our community and guided by our values, we provide quality, patient-centred health care.” Linamar Corporation and the Hasenfratz Family make history with largest ever donation in Guelph in support of hospital campaign GUELPH, ON, Jan. 28– History was made in Guelph today with news of an unprecedented donation from the community in support of healthcare delivery. Linamar Corporation and the Hasenfratz Family are donating $1,000,000 to Guelph General Hospital for its Foundation’s MRI & More campaign. Never before has the Foundation received such a large donation to one of its campaigns. Linda Hasenfratz, Linamar Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer and daughter of founder Frank Hasenfratz presented the extraordinary $1,000,000 gift to Paul Hanna, Vice Chair, The Foundation of Guelph General Hospital and Connie Zavitz, Vice Chair, Guelph General Hospital. “The services Guelph General Hospital provides to our employees and our community are invaluable. Together, Linamar and my family want to support the great work the Hospital does and build on it through our joint $1,000,000 gift,” said Linda Hasenfratz. “Our contribution to the MRI & More campaign will assist in offering critical services and equipment to residents in Guelph and the surrounding area.” The $1,000,000 gift will help Guelph General Hospital bring new services to our community and enhance existing ones. The new services include MRI scans and an emergency mental health unit. The improved services include enhanced vascular surgery. “When I first learned of the incredible generosity of the Hasenfratz Family and Linamar, I was incredibly moved,” said Diana Piccoli, Chair, The Foundation of Guelph General Hospital. “Theirs is such a leadership role in philanthropy, and this gift is important in so many ways. The funds will not only help the Hospital provide quality, patient-centred care, but the gift also provides a tremendous boost to our MRI & More campaign. We hope it will serve as a source of inspiration for others. For all of this, we are deeply grateful."
GGH Demonstrates Benefits Of Automation With Omnicell Medication Use Systems GUELPH, ON, Jan. 24 - Omnicell, Inc., a leading provider of system solutions to acute healthcare facilities, and Guelph General Hospital (GGH), a leading healthcare provider, today announced the results of a study demonstrating the benefits of installing Omnicell medication use systems. With donations made to the Foundation of Guelph General Hospital from the Partners for Better Health campaign, GGH installed Omnicell’s Medication Specific Dispensing Systems to replace Guelph General Hospital’s existing manual, traditional mosaic drug distribution process. A comparative analysis was conducted prior to, and after, the Omnicell system implementation to identify patient care and staff efficiency improvements in the medication distribution system. “Our comparative analysis demonstrated that the Omnicell systems substantially improved the quality and efficiency of our drug distribution process,” said Jane Martin, director of Pharmacy Services, GGH. “These improvements translate into less nurse and pharmacist time devoted to drug distribution, more time for direct patient care and less risk of medication errors for patients.” Three-month study periods were analyzed prior to, and after, Omnicell implementation. There were 90 medication incidents reported pre-Omnicell implementation. Post-Omnicell implementation, this number decreased by 26.7% to 66 medication incidents reported. Of the incidents reported, pharmacy dispensing errors and errors where the nurses selected the incorrect medication due to look-alike, sound-alike names both decreased 60.0%. Since approximately 98% of medications are now available on the GGH patient care units, medications are more quickly available for administration, reducing delays in patient care. Using a time-in-motion study, the time elapsed from the order written to the medication available on a nursing unit decreased 84% on average, from 263 minutes to 42 minutes, after the Omnicell implementation. Nursing time needed to track down missing doses of medications, often through communications with a central pharmacy, was also reduced substantially. The telephone call volume to the central pharmacy decreased from 71 per day pre-Omnicell to 16.5 per day after Omnicell implementation, a 76.7% reduction. Of these phone calls, missing meds calls were reduced by 66.7% per day and out-of-stock medication calls were reduced by 70% per day. Likewise, the average number of communication forms needed was reduced by 90.7% per day. The Omnicell systems consolidate medication storage, and missing medication forms decreased by 95.5% and out of stock forms decreased by 89.7% per day. Nursing time needed to access narcotic and controlled substances also decreased substantially post-Omnicell implementation due to the elimination of many manual steps, including documentation. Pre-Omnicell, the average narcotic and controlled substance transaction took 183 seconds. This decreased 85.2% post-Omnicell to 27 seconds. "The pharmacy staff at GGH is to be applauded for the remarkable post Omnicell implementation results," said Ed Albrough, senior product manager, at Omnicell. “Omnicell technology helps hospital staff reduce medication errors by reducing complexity, avoiding over-reliance on memory, simplifying key processes, and increasing efficiency. The less time required for nurses to wait for and to obtain medications translates into additional time to provide patient care. |
//
