president's report 2012-2013

PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2012 � 2013

we can


Health care from birth until death…and everything in

between. It’s known as the full continuum of care. Unless

you’re a part of it, few people can imagine the scope and

intensity of what happens inside a large health care system

on a daily basis.

At Eastern Health, we are a community of 13,000 individuals

with a single focus: to provide the best health care possible

to those we serve.

The medical curtain is a familiar symbol that suggests

targeted, respectful care of our patients, residents and

clients. It represents a myriad of one-on-one treatments

and procedures that, by extension, are relevant to all those

we serve and the public at large. Providing access ‘behind

the curtain’ also represents our accountability to be open

about our approach to health care and use of resources.

As the province’s largest health authority, Eastern Health

serves 290,000 men, women and children in the eastern

A Message from thePresident and CEO

“Providing access‘behind the curtain’also represents ouraccountability to beopen about ourapproach to healthcare and use ofresources.”

region, and everyone in Newfoundland and

Labrador, when it comes to specialized services

such as cancer care, cardiac care, mental health

and addictions and children’s and women’s

health.

Did you know, for example, that in the last fiscal

year we:

� saw 252,160 people in our emergency

rooms.

� performed 551,093 diagnostic

examinations.

� facilitated a total of 1,654,885encounters with the public?

This report offers our stakeholders a ‘behind the

scenes’ glimpse into the daily operations of

programs and services which embody our

strategic priorities of quality and safety and

increased access. In turn, these initiatives result

in improvements to the health of whole

populations and ensure sustainability to the

essential services we provide at Eastern Health.

These priorities are outlined in more detail in

Together, We Can, our strategic plan 2011-2014.

This year’s annual report provides detail on our

progress to date and can be found on our

website at www.easternhealth.ca.

We take what we do very seriously. We deal

with life and death on a daily basis, and our staff

and physicians approach both with skill and

compassion. Every one of our statistics

represents a human being who deserves no

less, and looks to us for care that is characterized

by excellence, respect, integrity and fairness.

Together, that is what we strive for. Pull back the

curtain and see for yourself!

__________________________Vickie KaminskiPresident and CEO


Our Strategic Priorities

Quality and Safety:A Renewed Commitment

Access:Reducing Wait Times

Sustainability:Making the Best Use of Resources

Population Health:Promotion and Prevention

PopulationHealth


Screen SaverNewfoundland and LabradorColon Cancer ScreeningProgram

It’s painless, proactive and done in the

privacy of your own home. It could also

save your life. The Fecal

Immunochemical Test (FIT) kit is a home

screening test for colon cancer, the

second leading cause of death from

cancer in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Colon cancer develops with few, if any,

warning signs. There is no single cause

but there are risk factors. Some, such as

diet, are within our control. Other risk

factors, such as age, are not within our

control, particularly among those over

50 years of age.

Enter the Newfoundland and Labrador

Colon Cancer Screening Program which

was introduced in western

Newfoundland in July 2012. In the first

year of operation, approximately 68 per

cent of all kits that Eastern Health mailed

to clients were returned. This

tremendous response speaks to the

value clients place on the importance of

population health. In June 2013, the

program expanded to central

Newfoundland, as part of the provincial

government’s plan to offer province-

wide screening by 2015.

Screening is free, voluntary and casts a

wide net: it covers the general

population of men and women

between 50-74 years of age, who are

considered at average risk for colon

cancer – or who may not feel they are at

risk at all.

Screening can stop that worst-case scenario in its tracks! If

detected early, about 90 per cent of colon cancers can be

prevented or treated successfully.

Taking a home screening kit also means taking control of your

own health, in partnership with health care providers. Home

screening represents a very effective way to detect colon

cancer early on - and in the greatest number of people. Taking

a few minutes now could save your life.

Think of FIT as your personal ‘screen saver!’

About 90 per cent of colon cancerscan be prevented or treated successfully.


Other highlights

� Mental Health and Addictions

Program partnered with

community agencies to offer

‘Strengthening Families’ – an

evidence-based substance

abuse prevention program.

� Relocation of the Diabetes

Collaborative (Primary Health

Care) to downtown St. John’s to

serve vulnerable populations.

� Health Status Report

completed July 2012.

� Community Health Needs

Assessments: Release of the

fifth and final needs

assessment report (Trinity-

Conception) – based on

geographical boundaries.

Quality & Safety


Safety ShieldLong-Term Care’s Hands-on

Approach to Hygiene

The strength of effective health care

begins and ends with the hands that

provide it.

The hands of the health care provider

perform surgery, treat wounds, insert

tubes, administer eye drops, measure

pulse rates and wash bodies from head

to toe. Other than a pair of sterile gloves

during some procedures, nothingcomes between a health care provider’s

hands – and the patient, client or

resident being cared for. Nothing that is,

except hand hygiene. Proper hand

hygiene – either with soap and water or

alcohol-based hand rubs – is the most

effective way to prevent the spread of

infection and communicable disease

from one person to another.

Staff at Eastern Health’s nursing homes

in the Long-Term Care Program scored

the highest results in a 2012 Hand

Hygiene Audit. The majority of the long-

term care facilities increased

compliance over the 2011 audit, with

four of them meeting or exceeding an

80 per cent compliance rate – a direct

result of the priority placed on hand

hygiene and ongoing efforts among

managers and staff to improve

compliance. Long-term care employees

are very aware of what infection can

mean to their residents who are already

compromised with other, underlying

health conditions.

Hand hygiene acts as a shield between harmful micro-organisms and their targets: vulnerable men and women. It alsoprotects employees, families and visitors. Hand hygiene is ineveryone’s best interest – and there are no shortcuts to qualityand safety.

Neither is status quo an option in health care. Excellence isalways the goal. Encouraged by their improved compliance, thestaff in long-term care has already set a target of 100 per centfor the next hand hygiene audit. As they continue to serve andprotect their residents, they say next time they’re ‘going for thegold!’

Hand hygiene acts as a shield betweenharmful micro-organisms and their targets: vulnerable men and women.


Other highlights

� Began implementation of Safe

Surgery Checklist to ensure the OR

team is involved in safety

communication at three critical

points: before anesthesia, before

skin incision, and before patient

leaves operating room. It is based

on a World Health Organization

campaign.

� Decrease in surgical site infection

rates for c-sections and colorectal

surgeries.

� Redevelopment of Adult Insulin

Pump Clinic at Major’s Path to

provide Interdisciplinary Team

approach to diabetes patients.

Sustainability


Through theLooking GlassA Neonatal Wonderland

They are tiny and vulnerable and to

survive, they need shelter in the safest

of environments - and highly specialized

care.

They are the patients of NICU – Eastern

Health’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at

the Janeway Children’s Health and

Rehabilitation Centre. They come from

all over Newfoundland and Labrador.

Many of these ‘neonates’ are premature,

some have experienced complications

during delivery, others are born with

heart or breathing issues. Their first

homes are inside the plexi-glass walls of

an incubator. Outside, dozens of highly-

trained nurses stand ready to provide

specialized, critical care of their tiny

charges until they can be released into

the care of their parents. Their instinct

for survival is extraordinary; their

recoveries often seem miraculous.

To sustain this specialized care 24/7 at

the Janeway, NICU nurses have received

specialized and ongoing training in the

critical (ventilator) care that many of

these infants require. In the past, the

critical care unit was separate from the

nursery for babies who weren’t so sick,

and nursing staffs from both the NICU

and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

(PICU) were trained separately. But

when both services amalgamated at the

Janeway Children`s Health and

Rehabilitation Centre, so did the

nursing staff. All full-time nurses have

now been cross-trained to provide both

levels of care, and training is ongoing with new hires and part-

time staff. The nursing staff is now well-positioned to meet the

ongoing demand, eliminating the need to occasionally send

babies outside of the province for the specialized care they can

receive here.

Now they remain close to home. In a climate-controlled

environment, often sustained by life-giving oxygen,

intravenous lines and feeding tubes, their tiny glass homes are

surrounded by personal mementos: family photos, music boxes

and framed pictures of their own footprints.

Most important of all, they remain connected to their families

who eagerly wait to give them their first cuddle, first feeding or

first bath. As one nurse puts it, “Giving families what they want

– seeing the babies’ health improve and being able to place

them in their mother’s arms for the first time – it’s the best

feeling in the world!”

All full-time nurses have now been cross-trained to provide both levels of care.


Other highlights

� Launched operational

improvement initiatives to be

implemented over a two-year

period to save $43 million and

reduce 550 full-time equivalents

(FTEs) through attrition.

� Achieved Ontario Laboratory

Association (OLA) accreditation for

all laboratories. The accreditation is

based on International Standards

Organization (ISO) criteria and

fulfills a recommendation of the

Cameron Commission of Inquiry

on Hormone Receptor Testing.

� eRecruit: Human Resources Client

Services introduced an online job

board to streamline the

application process for its users

and reduce recruitment

turnaround times.

Access


Final FrontierHonour GuardPalliative Care Enhancements

Quality of life at the end of life. That is

the goal of Eastern Health’s Palliative

Care Services.

Palliative care has two objectives: to

relieve suffering and to improve the

quality of living of all people – of all ages

– who have a life-limiting condition.

Its guiding principle: to provide that

care with respect and compassion.

Palliative care has become an integral

part of our overall approach to health

care and is provided by teams of

professionals in our communities,

hospitals, long-term care facilities and

designated palliative care units.

As of the last fiscal year, 153 health care

providers throughout the Eastern

Health region had enhanced their skills

in end-of-life care through nationally-

recognized training known as Learning

Essential Approach to Palliative Care

(LEAP). These nurses, physicians, social

workers and pastoral care workers are

based in a variety of settings:

community, acute, long-term care and

palliative care…rural and urban.

Many people now choose to die at

home, in their own community. The

LEAP training has increased access

throughout the eastern region to

knowledgeable, skilled and consistent

care for those at the end of life,

wherever that may happen.

A new Palliative Care Patient Navigator will also ease the journey

of palliative care patients and their families by connecting them

directly to the care they need around the region.

Eastern Health provides health care from birth to death. No

point along this ‘continuum of care’ is any more – or less –

important than any other. The growth of the Palliative Care

Services reflects the attention and honour afforded to all those

we serve – from admission to ‘final discharge.’

The growth of the Palliative Care Services reflects the attention and honour affordedto all those we serve.


Other highlights

� Radiation services consistently

achieved national benchmarks:

96-98 per cent of newly-

diagnosed patients received

treatment within the 28-day

benchmark.

� Tele-Oncology service deemed

a leading practice nationally by

Canadian Partnership Against

Cancer (CPAC).

� Medicine Program

implemented non-physician

clinics for HIV – successfully

eliminating the waiting list, an

approach which has received

positive evaluations from

physicians, patients and the

interdisciplinary team.

� Expansion of Home IV

Therapy to Holyrood,

Heart’s Delight and

Whitbourne.

Population Health

Quality & Safety


Sustainability

Access

www.easternhealth.ca

president's report 2012-2013

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