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News Releases 2004
Hospital Committed To Quality Care Improvements Hospital Committed To Quality Care Improvements May 27, 2004 The retrospective study researched adverse events (AEs) that occurred among patients admitted to 20 random hospitals in five provinces, during 2000. It concluded that there was a 7.5 per cent AE incidence rate. The study defined an adverse event as "an unintended injury or complication, which results in disability, death or prolonged hospital stay and is caused by health care management". "We know that adverse events happen in hospitals across Canada and we welcome the Baker/Norton study, which enhances our ability to better understand and address the issues of patient safety," Takacs said. "At Stevenson Memorial we are constantly looking for ways to improve our policies and procedures, for the well-being of patients and staff." The study identified one leading cause of adverse events to be related to infection. Last year, in a proactive move to improve the quality of care, the hospital instituted a Quality and Risk Management Department. The focus of the department is the provision of quality patient care; the monitoring and prevention of identified risks; infection control; as well as patient and occupational health and safety. Through education and enforcement of protocols, the Quality and Risk Management Department works to ensure the prevention and containment of contagious agents that can cause adverse events. Recently, hospitals across Ontario, including Stevenson Memorial, completed an audit of their infection control and prevention systems. The SMH audit determined that a number of best practices were already in place at the hospital. Through an Ontario Hospitals Association initiative, SMH participates in the Medication Safety Support Service, which helps hospitals to establish safe drug management processes. In 2002, the pharmacy department at SMH implemented a new unit dose system for dispensing medications, which reduces the risk of dispensing errors. Recent increases in clinical pharmacist staffing and implementation of a pharmacy software system help ensure that all drug therapy is monitored. These changes at SMH help to address drug related adverse events, identified in the study as one of the top causes of adverse events. "Stevenson Memorial Hospital takes the recommendations of this landmark Canadian study very seriously. System changes have, and will be made. We will work with our staff to continue to make this a safe hospital for all our patients," Takacs said. -30- For further information contact: Provincial Budget Presents Challenges and Opportunities to Stevenson Memorial Hospital May 19, 2004 "The $11.3 billion in health care funding will alleviate some of the pressures faced by hospitals, but it will not eliminate them," said Susan Plewes, Vice President of SMH. "Our hospital and those across the province are facing increases in costs due to population growth and ageing; wage and benefit increases; and rising costs of equipment and drugs. Those costs generally lie outside of our control" she said. On May 10, SMH presented its Hospital Business Planning Brief to the MOHLTC. Through restructuring and redesign initiatives as well as revenue enhancement, the hospital was able to reduce its projected deficit of $3 million to $804,000 for this fiscal year. The government's across the board funding increase of 4.3 percent to hospitals for the current fiscal year, will not cover the $804,000 shortfall. The average annual funding from the government for 2005 to 2008, is 3.1 percent, which could mean funding will not keep pace with cost increases. Stevenson Memorial has anticipated the needs of the community and taken a proactive approach to the requirements of the MOHLTC. The hospital presented a number of initiatives to the government as part of its Business Planning Brief. Stevenson Memorial is gratified to see that their proposals are consistent with the directions outlined in the budget. For example, SMH submitted a proposal for a new ophthalmology program, which would see many patients receive cataract surgery within their own community. The government's announcement of funding for an additional 9,000 cataract surgeries, leaves the hospital hopeful its proposal will be accepted. To meet the MOHLTC's directive to reduce waiting times, SMH also submitted plans for expanded orthopedic surgery, cardiac rehabilitation and dialysis programs. The plans are in alignment with the government's commitment to improve access to vital medical procedures. "We are poised to respond to the new direction of health care," Plewes said. "Working with our network partners and community health agencies, we will complement the newly announced hospital program enhancements and other initiatives of the government, like primary care reform. The fiscal challenges remain and we will continue our efforts to find cost efficiencies and revenue enhancement as health care goes through a period of transformation." The hospital welcomes news of additional funding for community mental health services; support for nurses; a doubling of the International Medical Graduate Program; investments in primary health care; and additional support for equipment and technology. -30- For further information contact: Community Health Care and Fiscal Accountability are Priorities at SMH May 12, 2004 In response to rapidly changing health care and in keeping with the priorities of the government, the Board of Stevenson Memorial Hospital (SMH) recently passed an updated Strategic Plan that will guide the hospital into the future. With a mission to provide compassionate and high quality care; the Board identified four Strategic Directions:
Stevenson Memorial has consistently demonstrated accountability to its community and stakeholders. The Ministry has recognized that SMH is an efficient facility compared to other hospitals of a similar size. When SMH began its budget process this spring, creative and innovative solutions were required to meet the imperatives from the government. The hospital was facing a $3 million shortfall and a team was assembled to identify cost efficiencies and revenue enhancement, in order to significantly reduce the deficit. On May 6, 2004, the Board of Directors unanimously approved the 2004/2005 Business Planning Brief (budget) that will focus on outpatient care and the maintenance of a core complement of inpatient beds. Operational efficiencies will be achieved through restructuring and redesign initiatives. While some managerial positions have been affected, the restructuring has been achieved mainly through realignment of responsibilities and attrition. Through creative solutions and cost reduction, the hospital has been able to avoid issuing layoff notices to unionized staff. In spite of aggressive efforts to identify cost efficiencies and reduce spending, the Board of Directors has submitted an $804,000 deficit to the Ministry. Stevenson Memorial will continue to look for cost savings and revenue generation. Statistics show that during the summer, there is underutilization of the obstetrics department and inpatient medical beds. Additionally, working with our Community Care Access Centre, we have achieved unprecedented appropriate acute care bed utilization. This has resulted in decreased patient occupancy rates. To maximize efficiency, SMH will be reducing its inpatient capacity and will make use of the obstetrical facilities of its network partners for a limited time in the summer. Your hospital will continue to provide regular emergency, surgical, diagnostic, outpatient, mental health and rehabilitation services. Following the summer, enhancements at SMH will include revitalization of the obstetric and gynecology programs, an expanded orthopedic program and a proposed new ophthalmology program. The priority for SMH is excellence in patient care. By preserving front line care, enhancing existing programs and initiating new services, the hospital seeks to provide progressive, patient centered health services. Stevenson Memorial Hospital will respond with a commitment to continually improve and provide optimal health care. We will work cooperatively with our partners to achieve this aim. We thank the community for their understanding and support as we meet the challenges of the future. For further information contact: SMH Welcomes News Of Funding For Nursing Position April 23, 2004 Yesterday, Mr. Smitherman announced the McGuinty government would be providing $25 million to 122 small and medium sized hospitals, to create full-time nursing positions. Takacs said he was eagerly awaiting details from the Ministry. Susan Plewes, Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive, as well as Lisa Nicol, Manager of ER, Ambulatory and Diagnostic Services at SMH, were delighted with the news. "The importance of nurses in our hospital cannot be understated," said Plewes. "We welcome the assistance this funding will provide, in meeting our objective to improve our ratio of full-time nurses here at Stevenson." "For over a year, we have been working on expanding our full-time nursing complement," said Nicol. "We have successfully re-designed our schedules to facilitate seven full-time positions. The new funding will enhance our efforts and that creates a win-win situation for both nurses and patients." "We recognize the valuable contributions of our nurses who are front-line workers. This funding will allow us to strengthen our nursing core and that can only be seen as good news for patients and staff of Stevenson Memorial Hospital," Takacs stated. -30- For further information contact:
February 27, 2004 Two Surveyors visited Stevenson Memorial Hospital between November 30 and December 2, 2003 and interviewed several hospital accreditation teams, and three focus groups comprised of members of the community, patients, physicians and hospital staff. The Council based the 24 recommendations in the report on national standard criteria used to evaluate the hospital's ability to provide quality care from four aspects: system competency, responsiveness, worklife, and client and community focus. Overall, scores reflected a range of high to satisfactory ratings with recommendations reflecting the continuing need of the hospital to enhance its space requirements to meet its growing programs and the needs of the community, and investment in information management and technology. Many of the recommendations cited by the Council are already in the process of being addressed. The hospital will report back to CCHSA on its progress with each recommendation, on a periodic basis over the next three years. Council identified that Stevenson Memorial Hospital enjoys a very good reputation and relationship with patients, staff, and the community. Edward Takacs, CEO of Stevenson Memorial Hospital said, "I wish to congratulate and thank all staff for their diligent and focused efforts over the past in preparation for the Accreditation Survey. As well, gracious thanks go to our community for their on-going support of the hospital. Patients, staff and community have continued to bring much pride to our fine organization." Accolades of thanks are extended to staff, patients, and community for their on-going support and in recognition of the three-year Accreditation Award provided to Stevenson Memorial Hospital. For further information contact:
January 26, 2004 "I would like to commend this group for producing such a complete picture of quality care that occurs daily in hospitals across the province" said Ed Takacs, President and CEO of Stevenson Memorial Hospital (SMH). "We are proud of the results accomplished by staff at SMH and thank our community for their support and guidance on how we may best continue to meet their needs." The purpose of the annual Hospital Report study is to give all participating Ontario hospitals, a score or rating on several aspects of hospital management and patient care. This allows hospitals to compare themselves to similar size and types of hospitals, and gives them information necessary to understand where they can improve care or service to their patients. The results produced in this report are based on information collected in 2001 to 2002. The SMH Board of Directors congratulates all staff, physicians and volunteers of SMH who have contributed to achieving the provincial average or above average scores in all four quality care measures surveyed:
Overall SMH scored well in the areas of:
While Stevenson Memorial Hospital has generally scored well in all four quadrants of Hospital Report, we will continue to improve our performance and care to our community. For further information contact:
October 28, 2003
"Our community has been extremely interested in the international medical graduate situation and last year we passed a resolution of council encouraging the provincial government and the CPSO to allow more qualified foreign physicians to practice here,” said Mayor Larry Keogh. “We are thrilled to see the new APIMG program working and we congratulate everyone involved, especially Dr. Kogan, who we know will be welcomed by our community." When her assessment is completed, Dr. Kogan will begin her family practice in New Tecumseth. "I made up my mind when I visited during the hospital's 75th anniversary, said Dr. Kogan who came to Alliston August 30, with her husband and two small children. She returned two weeks later and observed the practices of Dr. Diana Omylanowski and Dr. Lester Affoo. Thereafter she was hosted for the evening by retired physician, Dr. Alex MacIntyre and his wife, Josee. "The community's warm response was the deciding factor for Dr. Kogan," said Ed Takacs, President and CEO of Stevenson Memorial Hospital. “Physicians are looking for more than just an office in which to practice, they are looking for welcoming communities and we are glad that Dr. Kogan decided to come to us, when 132 other underserviced communities in Ontario are in need of her services. We look forward to having her practicing here," he said. Recruitment efforts will continue so as to provide quality medical care to the growing community. For further information contact:
On behalf of Stevenson Memorial Hospital, appreciation is extended to each and every member of our community for their support and participation of the 75th Anniversary Celebration of your hospital. This celebration was indeed a milestone event for Stevenson Memorial Hospital and for New Tecumseth and area. From the 1928 theme Garden Party, with "T.P. Loblaw" in attendance, to the grand finale of fireworks, the day will be one which will be remembered. We graciously thank the thousands of people who joined Stevenson Memorial Hospital to share in the celebrations. We thank the many volunteers, from the staff and Auxiliary of Stevenson Memorial Hospital, the Town of New Tecumseth, along with many others, who worked so diligently on the day of celebration to ensure that all went smoothly. We thank the Planning Committee who, for the past several months, was instrumental in the organization of this event. We thank the Sponsors for this event - The Alliston Herald, Baxter Corporation, C.W. Leach Farms, Gibson Transport, Honda of Canada Mfg., and the Nottawasaga Inn Resort. As well, there were many other local businesses that graciously supported out community celebration. We have a great hospital because of our community! We look forward to a vibrant future in providing our community's health care needs. Thank you for making the 75th anniversary celebration of Stevenson Memorial Hospital a tremendous success! Stevenson Memorial Hospital providing the community's health care needs since 1928.
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