The following are highlights from the President and CEO's report to the GBHS Board of Directors. The meeting was held at the Wiarton Hospital on October 22, 2014.

Cancer Care Unit Renovation One Step Closer to Starting

• The Board of Directors has authorized the GBHS CEO to issue a request for tender for renovation of the cancer care unit.
• The tender will be issued to select a company to begin a 10,000 square foot renovation of the cancer unit on the 5th floor of the Owen Sound Hospital.
• It is expected that construction bids would be received in January 2015, and a company would be selected in February, with construction to being shortly thereafter. The project will take approximately six months to complete.
• The Hospital Campaign, launched earlier this year, is focused on cancer care, and thanks to the generosity of donors, funds raised will cover the cost of renovating the cancer care unit.

Update on Markdale Hospital Project

• Grey Bruce Health Services staff met with Ministry of Health staff shortly after the Minister announced approval for a new Markdale Hospital. The purpose of the meeting was to clarify next steps in the project.
• The approved general concept for the hospital includes: a 24/7 emergency department, a limited number of patient beds, procedure rooms, diagnostic imaging and laboratory facilities. Details of this concept now need to be fully developed and our project team of engineers, architects and design specialists has once again been mobilized and the necessary work is underway.
• Ministry staff affirmed that we are in Stage 2 of a 5 stage process that ultimately will result in the flow of capital dollars and a go-ahead to begin construction.
• It is too soon to determine when construction will begin, but even with an expedited process the planning and design approvals will take many months.
• A communications plan is being formulated to ensure all stakeholders are engaged and informed as the project progresses.

GBHS Receives Funds for IT projects

• Each year the Southwest LHIN makes capital funding available to hospitals for information technology, applications and systems upgrades through the Small, Rural and Northern Hospital Transformation Fund.
• This is a competitive process in which hospitals submit proposals from their capital plans. This week GBHS learned that our proposal was accepted and we will be receiving over $2 million in funding for several IT projects, including:

°Moving away from faxed orders between physicians and our pharmacy to implement a paperless medication order system
°Connecting medical devices to the electronic medical record so that information goes directly into the patient chart from the bedside or other point of care.
°Expanding a pilot project to enable more physicians to dictate patient notes directly into the patients' medical record using voice recognition software.

Complex Continuing Care Beds to Open in Wiarton

• On November 3rd, Wiarton Hospital will begin accepting patients with Complex Continuing Care (CCC) needs with the opening of three beds to care for this patient population. Seven more CCC beds will be phased in starting in early 2015.
• Late last year, the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) announced funding for GBHS to offer this level of service, which is currently not available in the area.
• Patients will generally be older, and have complex health conditions that prevent them from staying at home or from being cared for in a retirement or long-term care facility. The goal is to improve their condition to allow them to be discharged home or to another type of facility.
• Staff and physicians in Wiarton have experience dealing with patients with complex care needs, and are excited about expanding their services. Patients will be admitted from throughout the Grey Bruce region.
• Source - Grey Bruce Health Services