16 - Sunday, June 23, 1985 - North Shore News Opt aerrannaty ~wrnatae STO rae taparenT carinamemtntetrT tet 8 tochoapmed ted strap tert oof Hie a aaa Tae hice (atest Be res pists Wie te toetdanat es be tacaltha as | the quickly chortgnad paiterus ane Laons Gate iospiral Moswort Staten , Sen acne er BA Sees ao ROSS Evergreen resident and staff member share a thought. Auxiliary to LGH No group does more to create and maintain a humane and compassionate environment than the Auxiliary to LGH. Their purpose since their formation in 1921 with 26 members has been to enhance the comfort and well-being of the hospital's patients. Auxiliary members can be found in every area of the hospital delivering flowers and meal trays, assisting patients who need help with eating or grooming, escorting new patients to their rooms, comforting homesick children, visiting with pa- tients, providing information to visitors. Last year the 476 aux- iliary members gave 45,516 hours of their time to LGH patients. The Auxiliary is also the hospital's major fund-raiser. A great many pieces of equipment used in diagnosis and treatment, programs that enhance the quality of life for Evergreen House residents and recreational items for patients such as television sets and video machines were purchased through the generosi- ty of the Auxiliary. Last year the Auxiliary pledged $144,700 to the hospital in addition to paying out $27,826 fos equip- ment and making ongoing cash donations of $8,580 to hospital departments. All revenues from the Auxiliary’s two in-hospital Dogwood Shops and the Thrift Shop at 15th and Lonsdale are used to benefit LGH patients. : Protecting Our Future “The mission supporis and encourages both teaching and research, especially at the clinical level and related to the delivery of health care.” LGH is committed to the education of staff and health pro- fessionals and is involved in cooperative programs with a number of educational institutions and professional bodies. Twelve interns from across Canada are spending a year at LGH rotating through different areas of the hospital before going into general practice or specialized training. Students gaining clinical experience include nursing students, medical students, pharmacy residents, social work students, laboratory and radiology technologists, occupational and physiotherapy and speech pathology students and administrative residents. Staff members, nurses and doctors attend frequent educational sessions, on and off the hospital site, and training and updating is a daily constant in order to keep pace with new procedures, drugs and technology. The education of patients plays an important part in their recovery and in the prevention of further problems. Medical Day Care Centre programs in areas such as diabetes, cardiac rehabilitation, respiratory problems. nutrition, back care and maternal/child care help peaple become more responsible for their own well-being. Research at LGH primarily involves supporting and partici- pating in projects of clinical research and health care delivery. Valuable pioneering work of direct benefit to patients has been accomplished in the fields of diabetes and cardiac care. The Lions Gate Medical Research Foundation, a separate four: dation which supports research at the hospital, has funded a variety of research activities including diabetes studies. nuclear medicine. accident statistics. stroke evaluation and management, antibiotics and intrauterine contraception devices. 1 aaeeiaaaarn ene saabetenbin them aeinia oh thinaettnag aoa maser ee ate Behind the Front Lines When we think of our community hospital we usually think of doctors and nurses, sophisticated technology like the CT Sean, operations like hip replacements and lens implants, pro- grams at the Medical Day Centre. What we usually don't think of is the enormous network of people and activities behind the front lines. Almost 2000 people work at Lions Gate Hospital, and about 84 per cent of them live on the North Shore. Approximately one-half of this workforce are nurses but most of the remainder work out-of-sight, making it possible for the front line work to continue, Running a hospital is somewhat like ninning a complex com- bination of hotel, restaurant, laboratory, general store, laun- dry, business office and print shop. Last year the LGH Stores and Purchasing Department pro- cessed 10,856 purchase orders and monitored contracts with 211 suppliers who bring iterns such as fresh produce, meat and milk to the hospital. The results are like a bizarre general store: a $400,000 inventory that runs from bran flakes to sutures. Last year's orders included 40,000 scalpel blades, 500,000 syringes, 1800 - 48 ounce tins of tomato soup. 50,000 litres of milk, six tons of coffee, 18,000 black ball- point pens, and enough paper for the 790 different forms printed in the print shop. These shared shelf space with crutch tips, infant formula, computer disks and thousands of other Auxiliary volunteers bring their travelling library to bed ridden patients. A OAH EY AE REAR ORS ROE An inventory of this size and nature demands very close control and new materials management plans are being design. ed to make purchasing, storing and distribution as efficient as possible. The kitchen of a large hotel has it easy compared to the task faced by Food Services every day: to provide nutritious meals for two cafeterias, Evergreen House and approximately 400 patients many of whom are on special diets. Liquid CO, makes it possible to freeze large batches of labour-intensive entrees and provide a more flexible menu for patients and residents of Evergreen House. And holidays always call for something special to whet the appetites of residents and pa- tients away from home. Every day the LGH Linen Services staff washes 18,000 pounds of dirty laundry using huge Sraun washer/extractors that hold 800 pounds of laundry each. Linen Services handles the ordering, washing, ironing, and mending of all the linen and uniforms for LGH and three other hospitals and packs operating rooms bundles for two hospitals. Some of that linen goes upstairs where a bed-team from Housekeeping changes between 30 and 80 discharge beds each day. To ready the room for the new patient they strip the old linen and wash the entire area — bedsprings and frame, bedside table and locker — with disinfectant. Housekeeping aides and cleaners are engaged in a battle against bacteria. Wards. patients rooms, utility and bathrooms, labs, offices, public areas must all be kept as germ-free as possi- ble. Recent years have seen the development of new potent germicidal detergents that require careful handling and many technological improvements in equipment. Lab work is an important component of health care today and for the future. Keeping it all running is a small army of plumbers, elec- tricians, engineers and mechanics, A very special type of main- tenance is handled by the biomedical engineers who see to it that some of the most delicate and vital machines in the hospital stay on the job: that heart monitors supply cardiac nurses with accurate information. infusion pumps control the drip of fluids, centrifuge machines in the blood bank work pro- perly, stress machines test lung: function. These workers behind the lines are proud of their role in the health care team at Lions Gate Hospital. They know that because of them patients are fed nutritious meals and sleep on clean sheets with neat hospital corners in an environment that is as bacteria-free as possible; OR kits arrive at the opera- ting rooms and surgeons don’t run out of sutures or scalpels; the EEG monitor keeps vigilence over a heart patient: the hospital temperature is regulated and the plumbing works. Employee Recognition The administration and board of directors are also proud of the determined efforis of the hosnital's employees to en sure quality health care for the patients. The Employee Recog: nition program was established to say a more formal thank you for efforts made and service given. The first annual recogni- tion luncheon in March was atiended by 128 staff members with 15 or more years of service. ‘Their service to the hospital totalled 2,387 years. Special awards will be made for outstanding contributions during the year and a display board in the hospital lobby in- troduces visitors to emplovees from different areas of the hospital. AAA PAP RSM AETL EEE LP A NARITA AA nl EN an