by Mary Wilson Trider
The fifty-third Annual General Meeting of the Almonte General Hospital Corporation (AGH) was held on Monday, June 1st. Mary Wilson Trider, AGH President & CEO, spoke about highlights of the year ended March 31, 2015.
Almonte General Hospital and Fairview Manor were Accredited by Accreditation Canada, having achieved 97.3% of the accreditation standard criteria. Fairview Manor also passed the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care Resident Quality Inspection process. The Laboratory had a second accreditation process and achieved a score of 98% from the Ontario Laboratory Accreditation Program.
In support of strategic areas of focus on partnering with educational institutions and enhancing services to seniors, AGH acted as a research site for Carleton University’s Department of Health Sciences for studies of “informal caregiver experiences and their use of support services in rural Ontario” and of “the relationship between the social identities of staff and volunteers and the social engagement of residents” which was called “there’s no place like Fairview”.
Lanark County Paramedic Service became the only service in the region to have paramedics complete the Autonomous IV program. The Paramedic service played a role in training new doctors through their participation in a “boot camp” for new physicians in Kingston that helped them understand the challenges of providing care in real-life surroundings and weather conditions. During the year paramedics responded to over 18,500 calls.
Fairview Manor provided 40,376 days of care. Health Quality Ontario’s website reports that Fairview Manor met and/or exceeded provincial averages on publicly reported indicators for falls prevention, bladder incontinence and prevention of pressure ulcers.
Almonte General Hospital had over 15,590 Emergency Department visits, 8,852 days of care in the Rosamond Unit and 541 discharges from the Medical/Surgical Unit as well as nearly 1,000 surgical procedures, 11,375 Diagnostic Imaging procedures, 1,570 visits to Day Hospital and 321 births.
The Hospital met its’ Quality Improvement Plan targets for length of stay management, total margin, and all of the Hospital Service Accountability Agreement targets for Emergency Department wait times. Once again, there were no hospital-acquired cases of VRE, MRSA or C-Difficile.
NRCC patient satisfaction results, released in February, reported that for 2013/14, Almonte General Hospital’s Medical/Surgical unit and Emergency Department were in the top 10% of Ontario. For the second year in a row the Maternity Department was ranked #1 in the province.
Thanks for another successful year to:
- Patients, residents and family members for trusting us with your care and for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us
- Health system partners for your support and collaboration – in particular the Smiths Falls site of PSFDH for extraordinary assistance during our Obstetrician shortage
- Board and staff of the Almonte General Hospital Foundation, and their generous donors, for fundraising efforts which allowed us to purchase new equipment
- Staff, medical staff and volunteers in the Hospital, the Manor and the Paramedic service for their commitment to safe, high quality patient and resident care
- AGH’s Board of Directors for their dedication and thoughtful oversight
