32 - Sunday, June 14, 1992 - North Shore News

RE PO ROY vr Oo

Public attention has been focused
on health care this year
culminating with the report from
the Royal Commission on Health
Care and Costs in British
Columbia, Closer to Home, being
published in November, 1991. The
Commission Report stems from an
extensive review of our health care
system, which included

numerous consultations

Robert J. Smith
Lions Gate Hospital
President and CEO

throughout the province with
health care providers, consumers
and funding agencies. Their task
was truly mammoth and their
report is equally vigorous in its
many recommendations. | am
pleased to note that information
taken from the presentation made
by Lions Gate Hospital was sited in
the report.

While the Commission felt that a
lot of things could be done to
improve our health care sytem,
they also noted that Canadians
enjoy the best system in the world.
Changes, therefore, should not
erode the effective, although often

Hl EE 2 VT OH

complex, infrastructure that has

evolved.

The Royal Commission suggests
that some funds could be better
spent on community-based health
services than on acute care
hospital beds. It also recommends
that an increased focus be placed
on preventative health care. Such a
shift of financial resources to
community/prevention initiatives
would allow more people to
receive care and health education.

This trend towards more
community-oriented health care
has and will continue to be met by
Lions Gate Hospital. Our vision in
the early 1970's led to the
establishment of our Medical Day
Centre and its myriad of outpatient
services which, in turn, led to
improved patient care and a
systematic reduction of acute care
hospital beds. This foresight has
continued over the years and
previous annual reports to the
community have highlighted very
successful programs such as Quick
Response, Same Day Surgery and
Palliative Care.

Despite these changes in how we
provide service, costs continue to
rise and are primarily associated
with increasing wages; 75% of
health care dollars spent in
institutions are for wages and
benefits. Supply costs (especially
drugs, prosthetics for joint
replacement and contrast mediums
used for diagnostic purposes)
continue to escalate beyond the
normal rates of inflation. All this in
an environment where the
population of the North Shore
continues to increase and age, and
our role as a secondary referral
and trauma centre expands. We
know that these demographic
continued on page 5

SHORE

COM M U

IV Therapy Clinician Maiie Brazier islts’ orthopedic patient
Ronald Wood who requires !V" anviblotics se ;
day. One factor coniributing.to hospital-stays of upto’
several woeks.is the need: for ion

gii
at : fesstet'
absorbed by the stomach when taken in‘a pil
form. “I'd love te be able to‘go‘on this program,
Woed “and csr’t wait until es

patients go home sooner.a
recover more comfortably

In conjunction, with North Shore Health,
hoping io. soon pafticipate ina Home:

their homes. -

“WV Therapy Clinician, ‘Marie Brazier aw

expensive when you consider an acute care’ bed. co:
$500 a day.” ”

require ioneterm antibiotics for several “have to sulin
between Deep Cove and Horseshoe Bay; and have- an’
friend or family. member. who is able 1 to be. trained:

know what this program will and will ‘not do. M people,’
when they think of an IV, think they‘Il-be hooked: up
continuously to poles and tubing. When you ‘suggest an. atchome.
program, they imagine packing all that around with them and
wonder how on earth. they’ll cope with the simplest tasks: -

In fact, people on the program will have only a small, capped.

plastic catheter (or tube) inserted into their arm about an.hour.

'. before going home. When covered with a protective dressing,

most people won't even know it is there. When antibiotic -
medications need to be administered, patients. and/or another. |
responsible adult will simply attach the antibiotic solution to. the
IV tubing, connect it to the catheter and fet.the. dose’ flow. into
the patient’s arm.

Patients want and need to have more-control over their health,”
adds Marie. “This program gives them a greater understanding: ‘of
what's happening to their bodies, and lets them recover more:
comfortably and often more quickly at home. This program
respects the ‘whole person’, offering a more holistic approach
that puts the patient back in control.”