VGH staff and physicians of four hospitalist units in Centennial Pavilion (CP) are enhancing the quality and continuity of care for seniors. On January 6, 2017, the teams — with a little help from their friends — launched a new model of care.

The redesign of hospitalist units will enable seniors to complete their hospital stays on one unit and avoid the disruption of transfers on CP 7 and CP 8.

“Disruptions in care can be hard on patients of any age,” says Mary Nieforth, interim operations director, family practice. “For seniors, care continuity is especially important to avoid a decline in function and unintended complications and barriers to resuming life at home.”

For patients 70 years and older living with dementia, CP 10 is converting into an integrated geriatric unit.

This specialized medicine unit will provide the environment to care for patients with behavioural and psychosocial symptoms of dementia (BPSD) suffering from an acute medical issue.

Supporting all of this work, the nurses of all four units are adopting new team-based approaches to care that will enable staff to provide care in a supportive way for patients and for each other. Daily iCARE rounds with physicians focus on supporting patients’ return home with the appropriate community services.

Mixed acuity units replace acute medical and subacute units

The referral process to hospitalist units remains the same. All admissions depend on an assessment by a Hospitalist. The total number of beds across the four CP units also remains the same; however, the distribution of patients across the units will change to ensure optimal care and bed access:

We couldn’t have done it without you

“At the risk of missing someone deserving of recognition, I’d like to congratulate all the staff, physicians and leaders of the four hospitalist units for ensuring a smooth transition despite a very busy flu season,” says Mary.

Special thanks are also due to our support services partners, including Crothall Environmental Services, K-Bro Linen Systems, the PCIS and CMS teams, Staffing and Shortcall, Supplies, Transport and Sodexo Food Services.

Their extra efforts, problem-solving and hands-on support enabled a seamless transition for patients and the care teams. “We couldn’t have done it without them,” adds Mary.

Looking for an exciting career opportunity?

The VGH Hospitalist Program is recruiting for RNs and LPNs with acute medicine experience for full-, part-time and causal positions. If you’re interested in this exciting career opportunity, please contact Marta Filipski or Melinda David, patient services managers.