Perspectives magazine is an annual glossy supporting the Mount Sinai Hospital Auxiliary, Mount Sinai Hospital and the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/746667
Understanding how her care would unfold brought Helga a peace of mind that enabled her to make some decisions� She recalls lying on the hallway gurney, groggy from painkillers and worrying that her daughter didn't know what had happened� But she was equally concerned about the panic that a phone call from an emergency room would cause� Knowing that she would be comfortably settled at Bridgepoint by the afternoon helped her decide to postpone calling until then� Connecting patients to the right care at the right time has ripple effects that extend beyond the patients' own experience� With Ontario's growing and aging population, the strain on hospital resources is like a coming tsunami� In the crowded ED that summer afternoon, one fewer patient took up a valuable stretcher; one fewer patient was admitted to a ward upstairs to wait for a spot in a rehab facility� What if Helga's experience, admittedly a small victory for the health of Ontario's health system, could be multiplied by hundreds every day, in every emergency department in Toronto? Heather Kwok, Clinical Practice Lead for Physiotherapy, in the BMO Financial Group Therapy Gym at Bridgepoint A seamless connection Helga's experience illustrates the possibilities of "connected care," an idea that hospital staff and health leaders are eagerly putting into practice� Last year, Mount Sinai Hospital and its research arm, the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, joined with Bridgepoint and Circle of Care to form Sinai Health System� That connection allowed ED staff to transfer Helga straight from a hallway stretcher to a rehabilitation unit� "It's great to have a partnership with an acute care facility," says Heather Kwok, Clinical Practice Lead for Physiotherapy at Bridgepoint� "At a hospital, patients aren't as active as they could be� This can delay recovery� The earlier you get rehab, the shorter your recovery time and the faster you can return to the community�" This, in turn, frees up precious space at Bridgepoint for the next patient� Social worker Rebecca Detje, who was instrumental in finding Helga a place at Bridgepoint, helped her understand what was happening every step of the way� "Many people are intimidated, staying in the hospital needing an uncertain element like rehab," Ms� Detje says� "So being able to let them know right away where they'll go and when they'll be on their way is usually reassuring� I think Helga's experience is a really positive example of the possibilities for collaborative work inside the ED, as well as between the ED and rehab at Bridgepoint�" 21