Does HSN really understand patients, families?

The following letter is in response to the article, “HSN readmission among Ontario’s highest, data shows,” published Sept. 9.

According to your article, Ontario has the worst hospital readmission rate in the country, and “the numbers in Sudbury are especially high.”

It is my understanding and personal experience that local, sick, frail, senior patients have long been particularly at risk of readmission. In recent years, Health Sciences North (HSN) has made strides through its geriatric and other initiatives, but clearly, with the facts cited in your report, more work lies ahead.

Health-care system leaders have pledged to deliver “the right care in the right place at the right time.”

HSN CEO, Dr. Denis Roy, has publicly acknowledged that, “a lot of patients don’t want to be admitted to hospital. In fact, if well-informed, they would probably not go through the extensive treatments they receive in a hospital setting.”

Many of us can attest to that. For many reasons, numerous families and patients have long been taking extraordinary measures to avoid the local emergency room and/or admission to our local hospital. We go as a last resort. And because of system disconnects, in particular sick seniors and others who can no longer remain safely at home, often have no choice but to seek help from the hospital before long-term care is available.

Dr. Roy has also said, “True patient-centred care is about communication with patients and their families and respecting their needs and preferences.” Under his leadership, he has educated the public on various aspects of health care by sponsoring such speakers as Dr. Brian Goldman, who has been very candid about the dark side of the health-care system where he says insiders often regard sick old people as “avid consumer of health-care services.”

There are a lot of us who are not asking for perfection in our health-care system, but we do want, and are trying to help bring, progress. And progress will take more than lip service to patient-centred care.

When a hospital leader publicly says, as in your article, “We’re still in an era where sometimes the patient preference is just to be in the hospital,” one can’t help wonder just how well HSN understands the reality of its patients and families, and about how sincere it is in respecting and addressing our needs.

Nancy Johnson
Chair, North East Family Councils Network (NEFCN)