Northern Lights sets a shining example

Improving access & reducing system pressures

Medical attention cannot come fast enough when a sick or injured child visits the emergency department.

Until recently, Fort McMurray’s emergency department was backlogged by the pressures of a fast-growing population base and unprecedented demand for services. Built for 35,000 emergency visits a year, Northern Lights Regional Health Centre is now accommodating 60,000 visits annually.

Over the past two years, a series of co-ordinated measures implemented by the centre’s staff has eased system pressures, reduced emergency department length of stay and ensured visitors see physicians and nurses sooner.

According to survey results from the Health Quality Council of Alberta’s Patient Experience Report, the number of patients waiting more than 15 minutes to have their condition assessed by a triage nurse has been reduced by 30 per cent, and the number of patients waiting more than two hours to see a physician has been reduced by 15 per cent.

This was accomplished by:

• Hiring 15 new family physicians to reduce the number of patients using emergency services for non-urgent conditions. The number of patients with a family doctor is now 83 per cent, up from 73 per cent.
• Using a bed utilization co-ordinator to act as a liaison between emergency and hospital departments, reducing bottlenecks by streamlining both admissions and discharges.
• Adding a referral section to discharge forms, so patients can receive ongoing care from specialists in the community to help prevent avoidable emergency visits.

>> Read more about our Action On: Emergency initiatives.