Stevenson birthing units scores top marks

May 2011

"Honey, it's time!"

You`ve probably heard that line numerous times on television shows and in movies when a new mother-to-be tells her husband the baby is on the way. Followed, of course, by the most likely true-to-life scenario of a nervous man getting into the driver’s seat of the car, biting his lip and gripping the wheel with a steely intensity. Calm and determined on the outside - a nervous wreck and dripping with insecurity on the inside, while they drive to the hospital to await the new addition to the family.

Considering a trip to the hospital is probably one of the longest drives you`ll ever make, no matter what the actual distance, wouldn`t it make sense to choose your local healthcare facility over one requiring a long trip to another town or city?

Some people say it`s a ‘small town’ mentality that finds people from Alliston and surrounding communities going to larger centres for obstetrical services. Somehow the thought that ‘bigger is better’ can translate into a negative impression of the services available at a smaller hospital.

However, a closer look inside the Maternal Child Program at Stevenson Memorial Hospital shows that the organization has come a long way since reopening it`s birthing unit in April, 2008.

The unit opened with an expanded range of services and a lot of input from the public on what they would look for in their local hospital, including a Maternal Child Advisory Committee (MCAC ) that helps bring concerns from the community to the hospital.

"We have community members that make up a greater percentage of the committee to voice their opinions and make suggestions to meet all the needs of our growing and developing community," says MCAC chair Sylvia Biffis. "Our mandate is to strike a balance between meeting the needs of birthing mothers and working within the hospital`s means to ensure we address and accommodate those needs as best as possible."

Even though there are members of the committee that work at the hospital, Sylvia explains that they make sure "at least 50 per cent" of those members are people who have un-biased opinions representing the community.  The result of the cooperation between the community and the hospital has moved Stevenson up the ranks in terms of patient satisfaction in maternity and obstetrics - so much so that the Maternal Child Program scored 100 per cent in overall quality of care in independent surveys completed by patients.

That means Stevenson has raised the bar in terms of care for other similar sized hospitals in the province. "We are a level-one facility. We have the ability to provide exceptional care close to home," says Sherry Guchardi, Manager of the Maternal Child Program at Stevenson. “People don`t have to leave their community to have a baby."

A level-one facility, Sherry explains, the Program accepts “healthy, low-risk pregnancies pregnancies," that have reached a minimum gestation of 36 weeks and up.

The expanded range of services include 24/7 access to pain management, one-to-one nursing care, and breastfeeding support for new mothers.

"Before the birthing unit closed, the epidural service was not available all the time. Now, in terms of pain management, we have an anaesthetist on board 24-7.", Sherry says. "We have a great nursing staff, all of whom are fully trained and experienced labour and delivery room nurses."

Over the past year, the birthing unit at the hospital has seen around 300 deliveries. That`s close to one per day, with numbers increasing as more expectant mothers choose Stevenson as the place to deliver their child.

The feedback from patient surveys provides a personal insight from parents. “Our experience at SMH (our second child born here) was so very positive,” writes one new mother. "I couldn't of asked for better treatment or experience. All expectations exceeded,” added another.

The birthing unit takes a pro-active approach when dealing with expectant mothers - especially those who are having their first child. While it used to be a new mother would receive an information package upon leaving the hospital, mothers are now provided a new comprehensive booklet of information in the weeks prior to a birth allowing the birthing mom to get ready and informed for the new experience.

The commitment to patient health continues even after a new mother has left the hospital. The 48 Hour Post Partum Clinic offers a supportive setting in which both mother and baby can return for a check-up within a couple of days of returning home.

"The nurses will do a full assessment on both the baby and mother," Sherry explains. "If there is any concerns or the mom needs to come back for extra support or breast feeding issues, this clinic is available."

The Clinic is unique to Stevenson and especially helpful for mothers who do not currently have their own family doctor. A new service at the hospital also includes a breast pump rental program. Breast pumps can be rented for as long as needed and all it takes is a phone call to inquire about availability.

In additin, the hospital offers gyneacological services for women of all ages through a program headed by Chief Obstetrician/Gyneacologist, Dr. Glasine Lawson, with referrals through a family doctor or through the Hospital’s Well Women’s Clinic.

With the growing list of expanded services, it’s no denying that the program has come a long way since its reopening. The white knuckled ride to the hospital for new fathers will probably always exist, but at least it will be a little shorter if parents take advantage of the opportunities offered in their own

Healthcare close to home really paid off for Founder of Stevenson Memorial Hospital.

April 2011

If you`re going to build a hospital, you might as well build it close to those who may need it. That was some clear thinking from grocery magnate Theodore Pringle Loblaw, commonly referred to by his initials T.P., when his donations became the foundation for Alliston`s new hospital, now Stevenson Memorial Hospital, back in 1928.

Although he was a philanthropist with the best interest of the community in mind, he was also pragmatic when it came to establishing a centre where people could be treated for illness or injury.

Back in the day when his summer home just north of Alliston became somewhat of a hotspot for fun times, T.P. entertained some rather important people who enjoyed playing tennis, golf, and socializing in a country setting. Some of the fun included hunting parties that would go out to the nearby woods to deliver some lead to the local small game, as well as some fairly dangerous activities for the time, such as horseback riding.

This got T.P thinking - considering firearms are inherently dangerous, if one of his guests had the misfortune of being on the wrong end of an errant shot, or took a rough tumble from a horse, the nearest hospital in Toronto was a long way away when travelling along dirt roads in a Ford Model A sedan.

He may have already been thinking of using his wealth for good measure in his home town, but the thought of a VIP expiring due to a lengthy ride to the big city convinced him that there was no better time than the present to build a hospital that was close to home.

It didn`t take long to get the ball rolling.

With the initial donation of “over $100,000” and smaller sums from anonymous donors, Stevenson Memorial Hospital was officially opened on June 30, 1928.

Named in honour of Loblaw's grandparents William and Elizabeth Stevenson who raised him after the death of his own parents, the original hospital building lasted for 36 years and saw the addition of a three storey nurses’ residence in 1938.

By 1936, the nurses were given a $5 raise to bring their monthly salary to $60. That`s $720 per year when you tally it all up - the average national wage at the time was $1,710. In 1980, the nurses residence evolved to became the Mary McGill Mental Health Centre and today, also houses the hospital`s administrative staff.

Plans for a new hospital to replace the aging original wood structure were underway by the late 1950s. The new hospital building officially opened on June 18, 1964 at a cost of $1,509,800

Forty-seven years later, the existing hospital building has gone through a lot of changes and upgrades, but like any public building that has a twenty-four hour operating cycle, the hospital is coming to the end of its days.

The cost of building a new hospital will soon, if not already, be financially more efficient than maintaining and renovating the current deteriorating building.

“We are in the planning stages. We have looked at preliminary designs for a new hospital on this site,” says Myles Keeble, Stevenson`s Chief Financial Officer. “We are looking at a hospital about three times the size of the current facility.”

The hope is to have a new hospital built within ten years.

“Patient volumes are increasing,” Keeble explains, adding that “the size of the community as well as increased demand will necessitate a larger hospital in the near future.  In the spirit of T.P. Loblaw, we are committed to providing excellent care close to home.”

The wheels turn slowly when it comes to such projects however, but the groundwork is already being completed with an application for a planning grant from the Ministry of Health being put into place. The cost to build a new facility is currently estimated at $150 million.

As for Loblaw`s original fears of a long trip to the hospital, it turns out he was right. Loblaw himself is listed in the hospital records as the sixteenth patient admitted to the brand new hospital in 1928, when he suffered a broken leg after falling from a horse on his property north of town and spent 63 days recuperating in the very hospital that he built.