“They made me feel genuinely cared for. They listened, made eye contact with me, conveyed warmth and understanding in their voice and repeated back to me what I was saying.” — Sophia, about her visit to a chronic pain clinic, from a “care moment” prepared by the Patient Experience department of Alberta Health Services. Mounting …
Bill is an elderly patient living independently at home, who recently fell and was admitted to the hospital where I work (name and minor details changed to protect his identity). Bill clearly indicated his wish to spend as much time at home as possible. For some time we had been measuring our length of stay …
My wife has colon cancer that has metastasized to her liver. She has been receiving cancer treatments in Winnipeg since June 2012. I understand from Biocompatibles Inc. that Ontario hospitals may offer Debiri treatments with respect to the liver. I would be grateful if you could let me know if these treatments are available and how I might be able to access them.
The plan to eliminate obstetrical care at Banff’s Mountain Springs Hospital, and to replace it with enhanced vascular and plastic surgery services, was labelled a potential “quick win” in a 2012 community and rural health planning document. Babies would no longer be delivered in Banff (population about 8,200) and instead obstetrical care would be “consolidated” …
Following the public release of Rate My Hospital report last week, I received the following question on twitter: “CBC 5thEstate is being pretty provocative, are hospital CEO’s cringing across the country? Reaction?” Personally, I welcome the public scrutiny, and support actions that increase the transparency and accountability of our health care system. Ontario has been publicly reporting on …
After a decade of focusing on access to health care services, the Ontario government appears to be turning its attention to improving the quality and costs of these services. At the moment, there is considerable variation in how health care is delivered in Ontario’s hospitals, so patients with the same diseases are receiving different qualtiy …
Connie’s story Connie is a Personal Support Worker (PSW) who cares for seniors and people with dementia in their homes. She is a graduate of George Brown College’s PSW program and has been working in home care for the last 10 years. She makes $16 per hour, but rarely gets paid for more than four …
“In Canada in health care we’re at a point where most hospitals accept the role of social media for branding and communication, but only the lead adopters are using it for patient engagement and for clinical use.” – Ann Fuller, public relations director, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Call up the website home …
Patients languishing on stretchers in hospital hallways, hospitals issuing capacity alerts when they can’t take more patients, tension in emergency departments as patients wait hours and even days to be admitted. That’s too often the reality in our hospitals. And, given the statistics, you’d think that hospital executives—especially in Ontario—would be pushing hard for more …
The Personal Health Navigator is available to all Canadian patients. Questions about your doctor, hospital or how to navigate the health care system can be sent to AskLisa@Sunnybrook.ca The Question: I would like to know if Canadian hospitals accept international patients and if so, what is the process? My brother needs a full check up. The Answer: You …
A typical doctor working in a community hospital is not an employee of the hospital, but has been appointed to the hospital medical staff as an ‘independently contracted professional’, and is paid by the government on a fee-for-service basis. Structuring the relationship between a hospital and its doctors in this way is the historical norm …
Ontario Ombudsman André Marin’s bid for jurisdiction to investigate complaints about patients’ experiences at the province’s hospitals and long-term care facilities has support from a wide range of patient advocacy groups. Marin stresses that his counterparts in all the other provinces have jurisdiction to investigate these types of complaints, although the scope of their powers …
The Personal Health Navigator is available to all Canadian patients. Questions about your doctor, hospital or how to navigate the health care system can be sent to AskLisa@Sunnybrook.ca The Question: My mother is in hospital. We feel she is not well enough to go home as she cannot get up to go to the bathroom or …
Recently, I had the experience of sitting with a family member who had undergone surgery in a large academic health sciences centre. The staff and the care were excellent. However, I couldn’t help but notice the nearly relentless quest of staff searching for supplies and equipment. Supply carts were everywhere – lined up in hallways, …
Although there is lots of talk about making measures of health system performance available to the public, the reality often falls short of the aspirations. Not only are these measures often difficult for public users to understand and access; evidence suggests that they have little impact. In April of this year, the Canadian Institutes of Health …
There’s been a seismic shift in health policy taking place in Canada that has been largely ignored by the mainstream media and gone unnoticed by the general public. Provinces are starting to change the way they fund hospitals. This is no small change and will directly affect the care patients receive — potentially improving access …
The saying “you are what you eat” has taken on more meaning in Canadian society, with growing interest in the quality, origins and farming practices of the food we eat. For some hospitals, this phrase is “you are what you serve” with food service being increasingly scrutinized, and there are many Ontario hospitals with efforts …
On February 8th 2012, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care issued an Action Plan for Health Care, subtitled “Better patient care through better value from our health care dollars.” On page 7 of the document the Ministry says “Our Plan is obsessively patient-centred.” The document explains this term by saying that Ontarians …
The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is changing the way it funds hospitals for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts on April 1. The new funding formula is intended to improve efficiency. However, many hospitals are unprepared for the change. We spoke with hospital executives and other experts to better understand what is …
The acting editor of the CMAJ has sparked a controversy weighing in to a debate about parking, suggesting that parking near health facilities should be subsidized. Assuming such a policy can be operationalized (how near? For whom?), the underlying issue is an interesting and global one. When I was first appointed as a Board chair in …