T-4 weeks to go-live: a message from Coastal COO Karin Olson
We’re now 30 days away from going live with one of the biggest changes we’ll experience at VCH Coastal in the delivery of health care.
Our CST journey has sometimes involved tackling uphill climbs, retracing our steps or making new paths to get to where we needed to go. But every step of the way, we’ve come together – as only Coastal can do – to support each other and overcome obstacles. I know it hasn’t been easy, and there’s still more work ahead, but what reassures me is that we’re not the first ones to implement this. This system has been implemented successfully at hundreds of hospitals and facilities around the world.
This doesn’t mean our go live will be perfect – there will no doubt be issues at the beginning – but we’re setting up supports so you will get help when you need it, 24/7. Whether it’s a clinical (person in a green shirt) or technical (person in a blue shirt) issue, we’re going to ensure there’s at-the-elbow support on site, at Lions Gate Hospital and at Squamish General Hospital. You also have my full support and that of the Coastal Senior Leadership Team to remove barriers and ensure your success.
When we flip the switch on April 28, our patients and their care and safety remains our first priority. I know that you will always keep the focus on the patient and you can always follow up later with support and help from roamers, response teams, managers and other leaders to address documentation requirements and resolve issues quickly.
It will also take time to learn and be comfortable with the new way of documenting and finding information. I hope that each of you is involved in all of the various skills sharpeners, simulations and practice workflows so that on April 28, we are as ready as we can be for the next step – our go live.
Ultimately, moving to electronic patient records is about improving the care experience of our patients and making it easier for all of us to deliver the safest quality care possible. CST will reduce patient medication safety errors and adverse events, improve communication between clinicians, enhance privacy, help us make better decisions based on data and improve the reliability of our technical systems.
Every person who works at LGH and SGH is necessary and critical to the success of this initiative and I want to thank each and every one of you for all your hard work, dedication and the many, many hours you’ve contributed so far to get us ready for CST. I know we can do this together because LGH and SGH are “can do” organizations who value teamwork and ultimately, providing the best care possible.
Karin Olson
VCH-Coastal, Chief Operating Officer