Eastern Health shifts patients from hospital beds to care homes
26.08.2008 20:01
Health
- Source: cbc.ca
Newfoundland and Labrador's largest health authority is considering a six-month pilot program to move hospital patients to personal-care homes to alleviate the high demand for hospital beds. In a tender call released in mid-August, Eastern Health invited personal-care homes to submit proposals for accepting patients from hospitals. Janet Templeton, director of clinical efficiency at Eastern Health, told CBC News the goal of the project is to put about 50 patients each year into personal-care homes. The patients who would qualify for the transfer are those ready to be discharged from hospital, but waiting on home-care support or medical equipment. Templeton said the project, which could be extended after a review, would free up more hospital beds. "There are periods of time when we have up to 10 and 12 patients waiting in emergency to get access to an in-patient bed, but there is somebody in the in-patient bed," Templeton said. "The emergency department should be there to provide emergency care, not to have patients who are waiting to be admitted." 'Using people as pawns': NDP leaderLorraine Michael, leader of the provincial NDP, said Eastern Health is dealing with a bed shortage in a round-about way. "Why isn't Eastern Health dealing with the shortage of acute beds instead of using people as pawns that they are moving around to deal with this acute shortage?" Michael said that if the provincial shortage of home-care workers was addressed, more hospital patients could go home sooner, therefore freeing up beds without being transferred to personal-care homes. In Newfoundland and Labrador, home care is a tangle of public and private interests. Companies receive about $13 per hour per client, which leaves a maximum rate of pay of $9.14 an hour for people who often care for the elderly and the disabled. Industry officials say there is a shortage of home-care workers in the province, because of the low wage. The deadline for personal-care homes to respond to the call for proposals is Sept. 4. An official with Eastern Health told CBC News it has already received a number of bids. In April, a letter written to the CEO of Eastern Health and signed by emergency room nurses was obtained by CBC News. The letter described conditions in the emergency room at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's, the province's largest hospital, as "dire and unacceptable," and said sick and elderly patients are forced to wait on stretchers in emergency department hallways until a hospital bed becomes available. Emergency room nurses at the same hospital wrote a letter in summer 2007 describing similar problems. At the time, Eastern Health met with the nurses and promised to fix the situation. Story Tools: E-MAIL | PRINT | Text Size: SMLXL | REPORT TYPO | SEND YOUR FEEDBACKRelatedInternal LinksNurses call St. John's hospital problems 'dire and unacceptable'ER being used as holding unit, nurses sayHealth HeadlinesPremature birth tied to infectionsUndiagnosed infections may be causing more premature births than thought, say researchers who found nearly 15 per cent of samples from women in pre-term labour contained bacteria or fungi.Health officials debate standards for food allergy warningsHealth officials in the U.S. and Canada are debating setting standards for food allergy warnings, amid increasing concern that consumers are so confused that they're starting to ignore the warnings.Recall over listeriosis fears expands to 4 more productsFour more ready-made sandwich brands were added early Tuesday to a massive voluntary meat recall in connection with a deadly listeriosis outbreak across Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said. Mumps outbreak spreads in Metro Vancouver: health officialThere have been 166 confirmed and suspect cases of mumps in B.C. since an outbreak of the disease began near Agassiz in February, a provincial health officer said Tuesday.Breastfeeding may help reduce risk of aggressive cancer: studyBreastfeeding for at least six months may help reduce a woman's risk of an aggressive form of breast cancer, according to a study that explored how reproductive factors influence different types of breast cancer. Health FeaturesIN DEPTHFood safetyFrequently asked questions about listeriaASTHMABoys vs. girlsNew thinking about the disease in youngstersFOODHealthy barbecueAudio: Dr. Peter Lin on reducing cancer risks (6:35)IN DEPTHMental healthCanadians earn failing grade for attitudeIN DEPTHWest Nile  HEALTHMemorySurprising things that affect itPeople who read this also read …
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