THUNDER BAY -- The regional hospital has created a policy to better inform patients of their travel options after one patient found themselves without a way home after being airlifted to Winnipeg.
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre vice-president of communications and engagement Chisholm Pothier said although he couldn’t discuss a patient’s specific case due to confidentiality reasons, the hospital now sends brochures with patients who are sent out of town for medical treatment and that the move came after a person found themselves in a Winnipeg hospital not knowing how to get back to the city.
“In an instance where someone has to travel for treatment, we make every effort to inform them what the expectation is that they will be facing in terms of getting there and getting back,” said Pothier.
“If there is a situation where life or limb are in danger, then obviously that trumps providing them travel arrangement information,” he said, adding that an information brochure will still be sent with the patient.
Whether or not a patient can be compensated for travel for medical reasons isn’t under the control of the hospital either. All travel policies are the responsibility of Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
Pothier also clarified recent media reports stating that patients are sent outside of Thunder Bay for treatment because of overcapacity issues at the hospital, stating that is untrue.
“Nobody is shipped out of this hospital for treatment elsewhere because of overcapacity. If we did that, we wouldn’t have overcapacity. That’s just logic,” he said.
Patients who are sent to other health centres, usually in southern Ontario or Winnipeg, cannot be treated at the TBRHSC because they require services the hospital does not provide like complex surgeries such as organ donation.
“If you come to this hospital, you will not get shipped elsewhere because of overcapacity. We deal with our overcapacity,” said Pothier.
