THUNDER BAY -- The president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Care Group says Bethammi Nursing Home could have a role to play in reducing gridlock at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
But the CEO of the Northwest Local Health Integration Network says the problem won’t be solved anytime soon.
Laura Kokocinski on Friday said the governing body for health care in the region is looking at all of its options to meet the long-term care needs of patients in the area.
“Bethammi is certainly one option that we’re looking at. We haven’t made any final decisions on that at this point in time,” Kokocinski said.
“We’re also looking at what other needs seniors have, for example assisted living, supportive housing and what are the needs that are going to keep people home as long as possible.”
Thunder Bay Regional has been suffering from gridlock for the past couple of years. The hospital is home to 386 beds, but many have been filled by patients in need of long-term care.
Kokocinski said the province last year provided funding for 10 flex beds at the hospital, which reduces alternative level of care demands by more than 3,000 patient days a year.
“It’s not going to reduce the ALC. We are targeting trying to hold ALC at Thunder Bay Regional at 30 beds. We know that alternate level of car is not going to be completely diminished from our hospital and that alternate level of care is a problem across Canada,” she said.
The goal is to increase the flow of patients from acute care to community care, Kococinski said. She’d also like to see programs in place throughout the region that would allow long-term care patients the ability to return to their home community for care.
“We will be looking at how we work with the partners, both in the city of Thunder Bay and the region to address gridlock from a movement of patients to ensure the patients are in the right place to receive the right care, at the right time, by the right provider,” Kococinski said.
“ And that is not an easy fix and that will not happen overnight.”
Essentially the over-capacity plan looks at what the health-care partners in Northwestern Ontario can do within the existing resources.
Tracy Buckler, CEO of St. Joseph’s Care Group, said on Friday that her organization is working closely with health-care providers in Northwestern Ontario to help alleviate the problem.
By October residents are expected to move into the 542-bed Centre of Excellence for Integrated Senior Services, a facility that will allow the city close two of its municipally run senior homes. Some patients from Bethammi Nursing Home will also transfer to the new senior centre.
It could be part of the overall over-capacity solution, but certainly not the only one, Buckler said.
“Our hope would be that Bethammi would stay open. We are working in partnership to try to make that happen. It’s one of the options to look at with respect to the over-capacity plan and that would be our hopeful outcome,” Buckler said.
Some current residents would remain at Bethammi should it remain open.
“I think there’s a real multi-faceted approach to gridlock, which is a symptom of over-capacity. This would be one part of it.”
On Wednesday, in her resignation speech, outgoing Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre president and CEO Andree Robichaud indicated the gridlock problem at the hospital might be solved in the next 12 to 14 months, adding a plan had been formulated and was awaiting government approval.
