April 19, 2010
For Immediate Release (Mississauga, ON); Patients in the emergency department at The Credit Valley Hospital have a shorter wait time for care than most hospitals in the province, despite the ED being one of the busiest in the province. And Credit Valley is being rewarded for their efforts!
Health Minister Deb Matthews has recognized Credit Valley’s outstanding results with a $943,000 one-time investment in the Pay-for- Results initiative.
94% of Credit Valley’s patients with minor illnesses or injuries are treated and released within four hours of their arrival to the ED. 90% of the hospital’s most seriously ill patients who do not need to be admitted are treated and able to go home within 8 hours or less.
Participating hospitals committed to a 10% performance improvement in their ED length of stay during the 2009/10 fiscal year. Credit Valley saw an 11% improvement in the length of time between arrival and discharge of the most seriously ill emergency patients who didn’t need to be admitted to hospital.
Minister Matthews has asked the hospital to help others. She wants Credit Valley to share the secrets of their success and “play a leadership role among local and provincial peers as a resource for information about best practices, and as a mentor to other organizations.” The money will be used to sustain the hospital’s results in the emergency department.
The Credit Valley Hospital is in the fastest growing health region of the province and has experienced unprecedented demand for services at a time when funding has not kept pace.
Hospital president and CEO, Michelle DiEmanuele says, “this is an outstanding achievement for our hospital and our emergency department which is one of the busiest ED’s in the province. This is very important recognition especially at a time when patient demands on our hospital are driven by high growth. It will enable us to reinvest in opportunities to further streamline our processes to improve our patients’ experience and reduce their wait time for care.”
“It takes a collaborative effort throughout the hospital to deliver this kind of results. Our porters, lab techs, nurses, doctors and emergency department staff have a proven record in achieving results.”
The hospital also made significant improvements to the percentage of admitted patients whose wait time until transferred to a patient unit was less than eight hours.
Post Script:If you require emergency medical care, please call 911 or go to the emergency department. However, if your condition is non-urgent, to avoid a long wait, you may want to make an appointment with your doctor. If your doctor is not available, you may wish to go to a walk-in clinic for NON-URGENT medical care.
Sometimes it is difficult to know if your problem is an emergency. If you are unsure, you may wish to call Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000 for free access to a registered nurse who will help with any health related question. They are available 24 hours a day. Here are a few examples of when you require emergency medical care:
For a list of health care options in your neighborhood, follow this link:
http://www.ontario.ca/healthcareoptions
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