The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance is celebrating a major achievement when it comes to wait times in the ER.
Officials say ambulance off-load times at the Chatham site have been drastically reduced, down 45% since March, thanks to a partnership with local paramedics.
Donald MacLellan, general manager of Chatham-Kent EMS, says it has a huge impact on patients and staff.
“With that reduction in off-load times, that means my paramedic resources are able to be turned around fairly quickly and put back out to the road to be able to serve the community,” MacLellan says. “This has allowed our team to provide more balanced coverage throughout the municipality of Chatham-Kent on a more regular basis.”
MacLellan says a new mapping session helped ease the flow of patients through the emergency department.
As well, CKHA CEO Lori Marshall says they’ve implemented some new strategies and partnerships to make sure patients are being tended to as quickly as possible.
“This specific emergency department strategy is the implementation of an off-load nurse who is dedicated to this, versus relying on nurses who may be caring for other patients at that time to come over and relieve,” Marshall says. “This strategy is one that’s supported by our Emergency Department pay-for-performance funding, and one that we believe has made an impact.”
The reduction in off-load times has a greater impact at the Chatham hospital, which sees an average of 25 ambulances each day, compared to five in Wallaceburg.