New beds could eliminate hospital backlog
By Tyler Kula From www.theobserver.ca The Observer
The backlog of patients unnecessarily occupying local hospital acute care beds ay soon be history, the regional health authority says.
A $10-million addition is planned at Vision Nursing Home in Sarnia and a $12-million expansion at Fiddick’s Nursing Home in Petrolia, said Paul Brown, a health systems manager at the Erie-St. Clair Local Health Integration Network.
About 7% of patients at Bluewater Health are still in acute care beds who could be better served in long-term care or home care, he said.
That’s down from 28% two years ago.
“They’ve made a lot of progress,” he said.
Meanwhile, the wait list at Vision Nursing Home is more than 100 people, said Heather Martin, administrator and CEO of the 110-bed Sarnia facility. Another 34 retirement home beds are offered through Vision Rest Home.
The 36-bed expansion will help address the shortfall, she said. Construction on adjacent rental property is expected to begin by November and be completed by January of 2013, she said.
“I think the wave (of new residents) is on its way, so we do need to get these buildings up and running.”
The expansion will also create 50 jobs for personal support workers, and housekeeping, dietary and recreation staff, she said.
A new nurse practitioner-led clinic is already under construction at Vision.
Meanwhile, a 36-bed expansion at Fiddick’s Nursing Home could be completed by December of 2012, said administrator Mike Fiddick.
The addition will increase the number of beds to 128, with one respite, one palliative, and 34 retirement beds as well.
Updated technology, a full-building sprinkler system and a homier atmosphere are also in the works, he said.
Both projects have been delayed while awaiting approval from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
Ontario’s decision to allow patients to choose the facility they want to move to is also slowing down the process of reducing the hospital backlog, Brown said.
Ontario ranks fourth last in the world by Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards when it comes to bed availability.
There are 2.5 beds available for every 1,000 residents, and hospitals are at 97.8% occupancy, according to a recently-released Ontario Health Coalition report.
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