At one time, nearly a quarter of Hamilton Health Sciences beds were occupied by alternate level of care (ALC) patients.
But thanks to several initiatives, that percentage has been cut in half.
Murray Martin, president and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences, said he'd like to give Health Sciences North the benefit of his organization's experience.
Partly because of the ongoing ALC issues at Health Sciences North — as well as the hospital's financial challenges — he was recently appointed by the North East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) to lead a peer review of Sudbury's hospital.
The LHIN said that report is to be released by the end of September.
In an interview with Northern Life, Martin said he will meet with Health Sciences North and North East LHIN officials about his review over the next few weeks.
Martin's no stranger to the hospital peer-review process. In 2006, he conducted a similar review of the Kingston General Hospital. He was also appointed as the supervisor of the Cambridge Memorial Hospital in 2009 by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
Before joining Hamilton Health Sciences, Martin served for close to 10 years as the president and CEO of Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre.
While Martin said he thinks the review will mostly focus on the issues surrounding the ALC crisis, he said he'll also make suggestions on how the hospital can operate more efficiently and get its books out of the red.
He said he's looking forward to the review.
“I always enjoy going to other communities,” he said. “We can share our ideas, but I always find you learn at the same time as well. I'm sure there are things they're doing very well we can learn from.”
Dr. Denis Roy, the CEO of Health Sciences North, was not immediately available to speak to Northern Life about the issue.
The review was prompted by a number of issues, according to Louise Paquette, CEO of the North East LHIN.
These include an “unusually high” number of ALC patients, which have in turn prompted an ongoing crisis in Health Sciences North's emergency department and cancelled surgeries, as well as the hospital's $3.3 million 2011-2012 deficit.
“We've decided to get a third party in to look at how we are doing business, to consider some of the financial and organizational challenges that the hospital has and to provide us with advice and recommendations as to how to move forward.”
When asked if the fact that the North East LHIN has had to call in a third-party reviewer reflects badly on hospital administration, Paquette said the move “reflects our sincere effort to move forward together.”
The hospital currently has 96 ALC patients at its main Ramsey Lake Health Centre site — a number which has been creeping steadily higher over the last few months.
There's also 31 ALC patients at the Functional Assessment and Outcome Unit at the Sudbury Outpatient Centre — more commonly known as the former Memorial Hospital site.
Health Sciences North is funded for 30 ALC beds in this unit.
Two surgeries were cancelled this week due to ALC patient pressures. There are also 23 patients waiting for an inpatient bed in the emergency department.
The 30 ALC beds at the Sudbury Outpatient Centre are due to close next year.
Paquette said she hopes Martin will come up with ways to ensure the closure of these beds won't cause the ALC numbers at the hospital's main site to skyrocket.
In terms of Health Sciences North's financial health, she said that although it posted a $3.3-million deficit for 2011-2012 at its annual general meeting last month, it has agreed to balance its budget for the last fiscal year by September.
Roy told reporters last month that if the hospital didn't have to look after ALC patients, the deficit would actually have been $410,000.
But Paquette said Martin will also look at other issues related to hospital spending, including whether it's able to afford some of the programs it's currently providing.
This includes outpatient services, which the hospital has ramped up considerably over the past few years in an attempt to reduce hospital admissions.
Health Sciences North is currently developing a business case for the Sudbury Outpatient Centre, Paquette said.
In an email statement, Martha Auchinleck, senior director of the North East LHIN, said the organization is “concerned about the impact maintaining the Sudbury Outpatient Centre will have on HSN’s overall long-term financial plan.”
Posted by Arron Pickard
