News

Opening Of Additional Beds Will Be Needed Answer
For Patients Awaiting Placement
To A Long-Term Care Facility

Newmarket, Ontario – September 17, 2009 – Through the commitment of funds from the Central Local Health Integration Network (Central LHIN), Southlake Regional Health Centre today opened 32 interim long-term care beds earmarked specifically for patients who no longer require hospital care, but who continue to stay in hospital while awaiting transfer to a long-term care facility. This is part of an ongoing effort to reduce wait times in the hospital’s emergency department and alleviate the strain on long-term care facilities throughout York Region.

These patients, known as “Alternate Level of Care” (ALC) patients, impact the organization as their ‘holding pattern’ is felt through the blockage of available acute care beds for patients with acute needs and extended wait times in the hospital’s busy emergency department.  A total of 32 new beds have been opened at Southlake specifically for hospital based ALC patients at Southlake and the other six hospitals in the Central LHIN.

In partnership with the Southlake Residential Care Village (Southlake Village), construction on the Interim Care Unit at Southlake began in late April 2009, and involved converting the 5th floor of Southlake Village into 18 private beds, 14 semi-private beds, and two activity/entertainment areas.

“We are excited about the additional capacity we can free up within the hospital,” said Peter Finkle, Chief Operating Officer. “The addition of the interim long-term care beds will mean that patients waiting placements can receive long-term care services while they wait for their choice of long-term care facility rather than waiting in acute beds.”

Increased population growth combined with an aging population has presented a challenge for healthcare institutions to maintain adequate patient flow and enable those who require acute care to receive services. In 2008, an average of 35% of medical/surgical and rehabilitation beds were occupied by ALC patients at Southlake. This can lead to longer waits for admitted patients in the ER, as well as cancellations of scheduled surgical procedures.  To date, Southlake has managed to avoid cancellations to this point but the number of ALC patients continues to grow.

“The system benefits are enormous because acute care beds represent some of the highest cost per day in the health system while the lower cost interim beds provide more appropriate care at much lower cost,” noted Finkle. “As a result, the long term care patients benefit from more appropriate service, the hospital patients benefit from the availability of beds and lower ER wait times, and the system benefits through the more appropriate use of scarce health care resources.”
As part of a continuous effort to reduce wait times in Emergency rooms throughout the province, the Ontario Government empowered the Central LHIN to direct Aging At Home funding to the reduction of ALC patients in hospitals. The benefits of having the Interim Unit at Southlake include:

• The creation of approximately 25 full-time nursing, allied health, and support staff positions to support the new Unit.
  
  
• Southlake’s Interim Care Unit will serve enable patients to stay closer to their family while awaiting a permanent placement.Currently, patients awaiting long-term care placement are transferred to the first available nursing home bed where their care needs can be safely met until a room becomes available in their chosen facility. At times, this can displace elderly patients up to an hour away from their family and loved ones.
  
  
• The Interim Bed Unit will reduce the number of ALC patients at Southlake by creating space for acutely ill people to receive a hospital bed more quickly. This will come as welcomed relief for patients waiting a significant number of  hours in the Emergency Department for admission to a patient care unit and for the nursing staff working on ‘over-census’ units—patient care units whereby patient lounges have been modified to serve as temporary patient rooms.
  
  
• The Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) will play the lead role in placing patients in the Unit. CCAC Case Managers will review the needs of all ALC patients currently awaiting permanent placement from throughout the Region and ensure these patients are provided with the appropriate level of care to meet their needs.

“Two years ago, Southlake had a vision of being able to provide interim care to ALC patients who wait in limbo. Today, this vision has become a reality,” said Dan Carriere, President and CEO.  “We are confident that this unit will be a welcome facility for those patients and that we will begin to see a positive effect throughout the organization as many of acute care beds currently occupied by ALC patients become available.”

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