THUNDER BAY -- Tracy Buckler isn’t making excuses for an order from the Ministry of Health commanding staff at Hogarth Riverview Manor to stop admitting patients until further notice.
The president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Care Group, which oversees the 416-bed facility, said Friday her team is working hard to resolve the nine compliance issues the province cited in issuing the order, but it will take time.
“We moved from 96 beds at Hogarth Riverview Manor to 416 in the new building and there was a significant amount of training that was done at that time to make sure that all of our staff were aware of all the protocols and following what needs to be done,” Buckler said.
“We need to make sure that that continues and we need to make sure we’ve done the training and retraining that we have to do.”
The training didn’t fall short, but does need to be repeated in a number of different ways, Buckler said. People learn in different ways, she added.
“Some of us learn better online, some of us learn better hands-on. We just need to make sure we’re modifying our training to make sure it meets the need of everyone. Our staff are working exceptionally hard over there.”
Buckler estimated about 15 patients are admitted to the facility, which opened last January, each month. She also acknowledged the longer admissions aren’t permitted, the more of a backlog that will exist, potentially affecting gridlock at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Hospital, as well as delaying the move to long-term care for patients waiting at home.
Buckler said there are nine outstanding compliance orders.
“Some of them, for example, are related to pain and assessment management,” Buckler said. “So how we work through the process to ensure every resident has an appropriate assessment and is being treated appropriately if they have pain issues.”
The act of physically restraining patients is another area that needs to be brought up to speed, Buckler added.
While not the ideal solution, she said it's something that must be done on occasion and there is a procedure that must be followed.
“We need to make sure we have orders from a physician, that we have consent from the family, that we have the checklists in place and are using the appropriate restraint to be able to safely manage the care of that resident.”
Buckler said she’s been in touch with the Local Health Integration Network and the Thunder Bay Regional Hospital to discuss the impact and the way forward.
Buckler said there is no timetable in place to have the compliance issues fixed, but she wants to it to happen as quickly as possible.
