BY WENDY ELLIOTT
Kings County Advertiser/Register
The emergency room (ER) at Valley Regional Hospital has been transformed, now more than doubled in size and the layout flows more smoothly.
Working in sync, a nurse and a reception clerk handle patient traffic. The sickest people are treated first, says Dr. Keith MacCormick, but, during slow times, the unit operates first come, first served.
The Canadian Triage Acuity five-point scale prioritizes patients: anyone arriving by ambulance is usually seen by a physician immediately, but an in-grown toenail, suggests Registered Nurse Fiona Peacock, would be much lower.
MacCormick says it is hard to explain finite staffing and resources to the public. Common sense prevails: those coming into the emergency room have to expect to wait, but, he says, patients can also assume reassessments of triage levels take place. A sudden car accident, MacCormick adds, will cause the entire department to shift priorities in an instant.
Despite two new isolation rooms, two enlarged trauma rooms and about eight more beds; emergency staff in Kentville is still busy, but space isn’t critically short anymore. MacCormick chuckles about the reduced need for “real estate” (bed) management.
The fall, post-Christmas and late winter are the most hectic periods at Valley Regional. MacCormick also keeps his fingers crossed during June because of high school graduation festivities.
The medical director for the ER physicians’ group professes his admiration for the staff he works with. MacCormick says charge nurses are special people who determine acuity (or essential detail), bed stress and efficiency. The department is staffed with six nurses during the day and four at night. There is one physician on the floor 24/7, two during the day.
MacCormack is looking at the establishment of clinic this fall to serve patients without a family doctor. It would run simultaneously, and he thinks space could be rationalized within the department.
He is also hopeful funding will be found to install a computer aid, an Emergency Department Information System. Otherwise, MacCormack says, the department is well equipped.
After six months of adapting to the new configuration in the department, MacCormick believes staff members have hit their stride.
“We have so much potential. We’re open for business in the most effective way possible.”
Emerg stats
In 2008/ 2009, there were 5.6 million visits to reporting emergency departments across Canada.
Children younger than five accounted for most ER visits (485,760), followed by young adults aged 20 to 24 (405,691).
There were 1,299,765 visits to ERs for trauma. Of these, 30.4 per cent were due to falls (395,467 visits), while 8.7 per cent related to motor vehicle collisions (113,201 visits).
Healthy together
The Our Community, Our Health campaign is an $8 million effort to expand healthcare services at Valley Regional Hospital and build the first Valley hospice/ palliative care centre.
The hospital upgrade has finished physically, but two major pieces of equipment have yet to be purchased: a medication delivery system and computerized information system for the emergency unit. Funding for this equipment, and the cost of the redevelopment work, is still required. The province is covering 75 per cent of the redevelopment.
The Valley community is being asked to contribute its share toward the best health for our residents. In particular, 100 per cent of the hospice’s construction cost is from community funding, $4 million. Another $1 million is for hospital equipment, and $2.75 million towards the redevelopment.
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