As visitor restrictions are being tightened, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance is working to make it easier for family to stay in touch with patients while they’re in hospital.
At the outset of the pandemic, CKHA implemented visitor restrictions to ensure the safety of its patients, staff, physicians and the community. The hospital was given a number of electronic devices through a generous donation to facilitate virtual connections for patients and their loved ones.
CEO Lori Marshall says with two ongoing outbreaks in the Chatham hospital, they’ve had to limit access for essential care partners.
To help keep patients connected with their families and loved ones, the hospital has created three new patient-family communication liaison positions.
“Their job is to meet with all our patients, identifying who it is they want to connect with, making sure the care team is well-supported,” Marshall explains “Just taking care of all of those things in the background so that our patient care staff can focus on patient care, and then we’ve got supports for patients and families to be able to visit virtually when we can’t be doing it face-to-face right now.”
The hospital has also purchased some new iPads to help more patients keep in touch with family and loved ones.
