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The COEfficient The COEfficient - Capital Health

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ALBERTA HOSPITAL EDMONTON CELEBRATES 5TH ANNUAL QUALITY IMPROVEMENT WEEK<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca SUMMER 2006<br />

<strong>The</strong><br />

<strong>COEfficient</strong><br />

Dr. Yashu Coe<br />

designs life-saving<br />

infant catheter<br />

Putting<br />

Patients First<br />

Standardizing<br />

our health services<br />

<strong>The</strong> Stollery<br />

Turns 5<br />

Dr. Yashu Coe<br />

Pediatric interventional cardiologist<br />

Stollery Children’s Hospital


It’s hard not to get excited about an innovation in heart<br />

care that’s this big. When the doors open to the<br />

Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute in 2007, the lives<br />

of adults and children will be bettered and saved<br />

through skill, research and state-of-the-heart technology.<br />

Sincere thanks to the Government of Alberta for its<br />

contribution of $156 million and to the University<br />

Hospital Foundation fundraising cabinet led by Bill<br />

Comrie, JR Shaw and Dennis Erker for securing $40<br />

million in private donations. This Heart Institute is<br />

destined to be among the most advanced and respected<br />

clinical care, research and education facilities in the world<br />

today. Right here in Edmonton, we’ll care for patients<br />

from Alberta, the Prairies and the Canadian North.<br />

Naturally, our maximum heart rate is attained just<br />

thinking about this building with heart. days to go.<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca/albertaheartinstitute


SUMMER 2006<br />

IN FOCUS<br />

5 Putting Patients First<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> takes the next step to becoming<br />

a more integrated health system by streamlining<br />

the access and standardizing the delivery of health<br />

services across the region.<br />

COLLABORATING IN CARE<br />

10 New Institute a Living Laboratory<br />

11 Naming the Edmonton Clinic<br />

12 Weight Wise for the Long Haul<br />

IN THE COMMUNITY<br />

14 Elite Transport Team<br />

BEST PRACTICES<br />

16 Stollery Children’s Hospital Turns 5<br />

17 ABACUS Research Centre<br />

18 Quality Improvement Week at<br />

Alberta Hospital Edmonton<br />

20 <strong>Health</strong> Informatics<br />

NEWS AND NOTES<br />

21 Bob Normand Joins Board<br />

21 A Resource for Research<br />

22 WebLinks<br />

20<br />

FEATURES<br />

7 Miniaturizing Tools for Tots<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>COEfficient</strong>, as this tot-specific catheter is<br />

called, was named after Dr. Yashu Coe, a pediatric<br />

cardiologist at the Stollery Children’s Hospital. His<br />

design, accepted around the world, has now been<br />

approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.<br />

8 Pandemic Planning for Business<br />

Dr. Sherry Cooper, Chief Economist at BMO Nesbitt<br />

Burns, talks about the importance of business<br />

continuity planning at a <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> breakfast.<br />

16 7 18<br />

ON THE COVER: Dr. Yashu Coe by Laughing Dog Photography<br />

THIS PAGE: Dr. Nicola Shaw (left) and Dr. Shoo Lee by Stephen Wreakes/<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> (top left), Stollery celebration by Pat Marston/<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

(bottom left), catheters by Laughing Dog Photography (bottom middle),<br />

AHE Quality Improvement team members clockwise from top: Janice<br />

Godbout, Susan Hample, Christine North and Rosie Thornton by<br />

Robert Strand/<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> (bottom right).<br />

Canada Post Publications Mail<br />

Agreement Number 40639561<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca SUMMER 2006 ~ CHQ 3


FROM THE DESK OF SHEILA WEATHERILL<br />

Putting the Patient<br />

at the Centre of Care<br />

Historically, the health system in Alberta was structured around<br />

independently-operated hospitals and<br />

services. <strong>The</strong>re was no linkage among<br />

health services or co-ordination among<br />

physicians – patients had to figure out<br />

whom to call and where to go.<br />

In becoming a health region 11 years<br />

ago, we built an integrated care model<br />

within the health system, providing<br />

a complete range of health services<br />

in addition to emergency and acute<br />

care – from home care and continuing<br />

care, to public and community health,<br />

mental health and rehabilitation.<br />

With regionalization, we centralized<br />

our governance structure and administration,<br />

and consolidated our finance,<br />

human resources, IM/IT and communications<br />

departments. But there was<br />

little standardization or co-ordination<br />

of health services among sites and<br />

sectors. Patients were still being asked<br />

to register and re-register whenever<br />

and wherever they entered the system.<br />

Today, we take the next step in our<br />

goal to become a fully integrated<br />

health system with a major initiative<br />

to standardize health services across<br />

the <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> region. Just as we<br />

did by linking site information systems<br />

through netCARE so patients need only<br />

register once, we are streamlining the<br />

access and delivery of health services<br />

to provide patients with a co-ordinated<br />

continuum of services to support their<br />

care and guide them through the<br />

health system.<br />

We need to integrate services both<br />

within programs and among programs<br />

to ensure collaborative, co-ordinated<br />

and comprehensive service delivery.<br />

Turn to page 5 to read about our vision<br />

and the seven key service areas which<br />

make up the projects in <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>’s<br />

Regional Integration initiatives.<br />

On May 30, <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> completed<br />

Operation Outbreak 2, its second<br />

pandemic planning tabletop exercise,<br />

to test its emergency preparedness<br />

by guiding 200 leaders through a<br />

real-life scenario. <strong>The</strong> next day, BMO<br />

Chief Economist Dr. Sherry Cooper<br />

spoke at a <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> breakfast on<br />

the economic impact of a pandemic.<br />

You can read about both events in<br />

this issue.<br />

Congratulations to Dr. Gerry Predy,<br />

who received the Heart and Stroke<br />

Foundation of Canada’s Leadership<br />

Award August 11 for his contributions<br />

to heart health policy. Dr. Predy<br />

established the Urban Public <strong>Health</strong><br />

Network in 18 cities across the country<br />

to allow Canada-wide collaboration<br />

on healthy public policy initiatives.<br />

I would like to welcome Bob Normand,<br />

President and CEO of ATB Financial,<br />

to the <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Board. One of<br />

the primary roles of the Board is to<br />

promote the provision of integrated<br />

heath services.<br />

By building a strong customer-focused<br />

organization we can provide people<br />

with more choice in accessing health<br />

services while improving the quality<br />

and safety of patient care and the<br />

performance of the health system.<br />

In planning for a more integrated<br />

and consistent approach to delivering<br />

health services across <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

region, we will always embrace<br />

that which places the patient and<br />

the client at the centre of care.<br />

Quite simply, we are building a<br />

health system that puts patients<br />

and clients first.<br />

Sincerely,<br />

Sheila Weatherill, C.M.<br />

President and CEO<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Quarterly is published by <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Public Affairs.<br />

EDITOR<br />

Dawna Freeman<br />

dawnafreeman@cha.ab.ca<br />

780-482-8660<br />

ART DIRECTOR<br />

Julie Wons<br />

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS<br />

Tannis Baradziej, Ronna Bremer, Steve Buick, Dawna Freeman,<br />

Melanie Friesacher, Karen Karbashewski, Juliet Kershaw, Jeanette<br />

LaBrie-Cable, Jo-anne Nugent, Barb Petryk, Rob Stevenson<br />

CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS/PHOTOGRAPHERS<br />

Karen Karbashewski, Jeanette LaBrie-Cable, Laughing Dog<br />

Photography, Pat Marston, Robert Strand, Stephen Wreakes<br />

We welcome your story ideas and comments. Send your<br />

comments to the Editor at dawnafreeman@cha.ab.ca.<br />

Photos and articles may not be reproduced without the<br />

written consent of the Editor.<br />

HOW TO REACH US<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Public Affairs<br />

1J2.51 Walter C. Mackenzie Centre<br />

8440-112 Street<br />

Edmonton, AB T6G 2B7<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Quarterly is printed by Nisku Printers (1980) Ltd.<br />

on 80 lb Chorus Art Silk (50% recycled stock).<br />

© Contents copyright 2006 by <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>.<br />

4 CHQ ~ SUMMER 2006 www.capitalhealth.ca


IN FOCUS<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is a whole world of difference between good care<br />

and good care that is properly co-ordinated.<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> shows the will and the way<br />

Pushing the envelope<br />

of regional integration<br />

If Michele Lahey’s forecast is correct,<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> is on its way to becoming<br />

the most integrated health region in<br />

Canada.<br />

But wait, you say, isn’t <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

already the most integrated health<br />

region in the country?<br />

Since regionalization 11 years ago,<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> has become an<br />

exemplary model of integrated care,<br />

merging acute and emergency care<br />

with community and long term care,<br />

public health, mental health and<br />

rehabilitation.<br />

<strong>The</strong> development of Canada’s first<br />

region-wide electronic health record,<br />

netCARE, was another leading example<br />

of integration through the use of<br />

technology, linking patient records<br />

across all sites and sectors.<br />

“Integration has as many definitions<br />

as it has degrees,” says Michele,<br />

Executive Vice-President and Chief<br />

Operating Officer, <strong>Health</strong> Services.<br />

“It may be structural, or functional,<br />

or clinical. But like our quality improvement<br />

initiatives, it’s ongoing. We have<br />

become more integrated, and with<br />

the functional electronic health record<br />

(EHR) infrastructure firmly in place,<br />

we’re in a position to take clinical<br />

integration a step further.”<br />

Michele is leading <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>’s<br />

vision to improve the quality of care<br />

through a more integrated approach<br />

to delivering health services across the<br />

region. With the current pressures on<br />

health care resources, it is no longer<br />

practical to expect individual programs<br />

to provide comprehensive care for<br />

today’s complexity of patient needs.<br />

“Right now, there are areas in our<br />

system that are fragmented and<br />

cumbersome. We have dozens of<br />

vertical spikes,” she says, sketching the<br />

individual silos representing <strong>Capital</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong>’s services and programs on<br />

her notepad as she talks. “A patient<br />

has to navigate a sea of services;<br />

we don’t always make it easy for<br />

them to move among services.”<br />

<strong>The</strong>n she strikes several horizontal<br />

lines through all silos.<br />

“We need to create horizontal<br />

structures across the whole continuum.<br />

We need to integrate services both<br />

within programs and among programs<br />

to ensure collaborative, co-ordinated<br />

and comprehensive service delivery.”<br />

Clinical Integration<br />

Full segregation Linkage Co-ordination Co-operation Full integration<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca SUMMER 2006 ~ CHQ 5


IN FOCUS<br />

An integrated health system is ‘a network of organizations that provides<br />

a co-ordinated continuum of services to a defined population.’<br />

Putting the patient<br />

at the centre<br />

As <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> moves deeper into<br />

regional integration, it will continue<br />

to build its health system around the<br />

patient in order to reduce complexity<br />

for patients and to provide staff with<br />

a more standardized approach to<br />

caregiving.<br />

Seven key service areas have been<br />

identified for Phase I integration<br />

projects: neurosciences, chronic<br />

disease management, bone and joint<br />

health, cancer services, emergency<br />

services, ambulatory care and mental<br />

health.<br />

Some projects, like stroke and<br />

arthoplasty, are already well underway,<br />

while others such as emergency<br />

services and system capacity were<br />

added in Phase I to address ER<br />

pressures sooner.<br />

Dr. Ken Gardener, Vice-President,<br />

Medical Affairs and medical lead for<br />

Regional Integration, outlined the six<br />

key elements that are fundamental<br />

to a fully integrated health care<br />

organization:<br />

• patient-centred approach<br />

• single and/or central point of access<br />

• standardized evidence-based<br />

approach across the care continuum<br />

• information systems to link<br />

providers<br />

• continuous improvement through<br />

monitoring and evaluation<br />

• improved use of resources<br />

Success, he says, will be measured by<br />

improvements in quality and safety,<br />

access, collaboration and productivity.<br />

“We need to reduce the complexity<br />

for patients so they are supported<br />

in a timely way,” said Dr. Gardener.<br />

“And we need to create an infrastructure<br />

to support staff so they have<br />

what they need to deliver the care.”<br />

Michele says projects will follow the<br />

same basic planning framework now<br />

used to create five-year service plans,<br />

and the process will be standardized<br />

for all integration projects. “We are<br />

looking at how we deliver care for<br />

each patient group, such as orthopedics,<br />

from their first contact with<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> all the way through<br />

the system.”<br />

Those involved in planning the more<br />

integrated approach to delivering<br />

health services represent every health<br />

provider of that particular patient<br />

group, she says. “Together they’re<br />

asking what is the best care, what<br />

are the best practices we know of,<br />

how can we change what we do<br />

and how can we evaluate to see<br />

if we’re making a difference.”<br />

Michele admits the regional approach<br />

to integrate health services through<br />

a seamless and co-ordinated delivery<br />

of care is huge in scope given the size<br />

and complexity of <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>.<br />

“But it’s not magical; it’s good management.<br />

We have 11 years experience as<br />

a regional system and the health care<br />

environment is constantly evolving.<br />

To continue as we are would be to<br />

lose ground. Now we need to become<br />

a fully integrated health care organization.<br />

We are pushing the envelope,<br />

but that’s the culture of <strong>Capital</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong>.”<br />

“We need to integrate services<br />

both within programs and<br />

among programs to ensure<br />

collaborative, co-ordinated and<br />

comprehensive service delivery.”<br />

MICHELE LAHEY<br />

EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT<br />

AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER,<br />

HEALTH SERVICES<br />

“We need to reduce the<br />

complexity for patients<br />

so they are supported in<br />

a timely way.”<br />

DR. KEN GARDENER<br />

VICE-PRESIDENT, MEDICAL AFFAIRS<br />

AND MEDICAL LEAD, REGIONAL<br />

INTEGRATION<br />

6 CHQ ~ SUMMER 2006 www.capitalhealth.ca


FEATURE<br />

Miniaturizing tools for tots<br />

Physician-designed<br />

infant catheter<br />

finds open market<br />

Dr.Yashu Coe,<br />

pediatric interventional cardiologist at the Stollery Children’s<br />

Hospital, says the mortality rate for the treatment of defective<br />

heart valves in infants is now zero per cent. “Here at the Stollery,<br />

we’ve never had a procedural or late mortality.”<br />

Each year, the Stollery Children’s<br />

Hospital treats five to 10 infants for<br />

aortic stenosis (a narrowed aortic valve),<br />

one of eight common abnormalities that<br />

account for approximately 80 per cent<br />

of congenital heart defects.<br />

At one time, surgery was the treatment<br />

of choice. <strong>The</strong>n, 10 to 20 years ago,<br />

angioplasty offered an alternative.<br />

This procedure involves inserting<br />

and guiding a catheter into the heart<br />

through either a vein or an artery and<br />

inflating a balloon across the valve to<br />

eliminate the severely narrow valve<br />

opening. When he first began using<br />

Adult catheter (left) guide wire is<br />

0.035 inches compared with the infant<br />

catheter (right) at 0.018 of an inch.<br />

<strong>The</strong> infant catheter is more flexible<br />

and slimmer, allowing for easier<br />

navigation through the heart.<br />

this procedure, Dr. Coe found the<br />

balloon too fragile or the catheter<br />

too big for tiny babies’ bodies, and<br />

was determined to find a solution<br />

to improve the treatment for these<br />

critically sick infants.<br />

After conducting initial research,<br />

Dr. Coe, also a Professor of Pediatrics at<br />

the University of Alberta, approached<br />

various manufacturers to help him<br />

custom design a catheter to his specifications.<br />

When he finally discovered<br />

NuMed, a U.S. manufacturer with<br />

a facility in Canada, within a month,<br />

Dr. Coe had in hand his tot-specific<br />

catheter for angioplasty operations.<br />

“What’s neat about this is that it’s small;<br />

and the balloon – it’s very, very strong.”<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>COEfficient</strong>, as the tool is named,<br />

has since saved the lives of many infants.<br />

<strong>The</strong> catheter is now also used to<br />

correct severely malfunctioning<br />

pulmonary valves in newborns,<br />

at times a life-threatening condition<br />

that must be addressed immediately.<br />

Angioplasty operations come with the<br />

additional blessing that “the baby can<br />

usually go home sooner,” says Dr. Coe,<br />

unlike the longer recovery period<br />

required for more invasive surgery.<br />

With its new U.S. Food and Drug<br />

Administration’s stamp of approval,<br />

the <strong>COEfficient</strong> is ready for the open<br />

market. Until recently it was little known.<br />

In fact, not long ago in Germany,<br />

a delighted Dr. Coe impressed staff<br />

at a hospital he was visiting when<br />

they proudly revealed their “new”<br />

infant catheter – then discovered<br />

the design was his.<br />

LAUGHING DOG PHOTOGRAPHY<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca SUMMER 2006 ~ CHQ 7


FEATURE<br />

Real-life Exercise Tests <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>’s Emerge<br />

You plan.<br />

You prepare.<br />

You react.<br />

A good plan helps your<br />

best efforts succeed.<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> put<br />

its emergency plan<br />

to the test by guiding<br />

its leaders through<br />

a real-life scenario.<br />

It was Operation Outbreak 2 –<br />

the scenario: suspect cases of<br />

severe respiratory illnesses surfacing<br />

in Southeast Asia and Asia. Weeks<br />

later, three suspect cases show up<br />

at the Northeast Community <strong>Health</strong><br />

Centre in Edmonton. Alberta <strong>Health</strong><br />

and Wellness is notified. <strong>Capital</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong>’s Regional Emergency Co-ordination<br />

Centre (RECC) is activated.<br />

<strong>The</strong> pandemic planning tabletop<br />

exercise included about 200 people<br />

from <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, Caritas <strong>Health</strong><br />

Group and the Alberta Cancer Board.<br />

It involved the activation of the<br />

Policy Group, the RECC and the Site<br />

Emergency Operations Centres at the<br />

University of Alberta Hospital, Stollery<br />

Children’s Hospital, Royal Alexandra<br />

Hospital, Misericordia Hospital and<br />

the Sturgeon Hospital.<br />

<strong>The</strong> scenario was introduced to<br />

the entire group. It created a buzz<br />

in the room as site and planning<br />

teams worked diligently through<br />

the exercise, responding to different<br />

circumstances as the situation became<br />

more serious. <strong>The</strong> response needed<br />

to be co-ordinated and focused on<br />

protecting the health of patients,<br />

staff, and the public.<br />

This was the second phase of Operation<br />

Outbreak. <strong>The</strong> first exercise took place<br />

in June 2005. Its success initiated<br />

planning for further, more interactive<br />

emergency response activities.<br />

“<strong>The</strong> public expects their health care<br />

needs to be met regardless of what<br />

incident has taken place. We need to<br />

be able to respond to the emergency<br />

situation and limit its effects on<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>’s daily operations –<br />

to deliver the standard of care people<br />

expect from our health service<br />

providers,” said Dr. Gerry Predy,<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>’s Vice-President of<br />

Public <strong>Health</strong> and Medical Officer<br />

of <strong>Health</strong>.<br />

“With a potential flu pandemic,<br />

employees may be sick or be home<br />

caring for family members. We need<br />

to test our emergency and business<br />

continuity plans so the public is<br />

comfortable knowing it can continue<br />

to rely on <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> to deliver<br />

health services.”<br />

Communication is a key component<br />

in any emergency situation. For the<br />

first time, telehealth equipment was<br />

tested as part of the tabletop exercise.<br />

It linked emergency operation centres<br />

at several different sites. <strong>The</strong> technology<br />

is a valuable tool to strengthen<br />

communication lines with <strong>Capital</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong> sites and the RECC.<br />

“<strong>The</strong> tabletop exercise is testing<br />

the plan, not the people. If the plan<br />

8 CHQ ~ SUMMER 2006 www.capitalhealth.ca


ncy Plan<br />

DR. SHERRY COOPER<br />

Pandemic Planning – An Economist’s View<br />

JEANETTE LABRIE-CABLE/CAPITAL HEALTH (PANDEMIC EXERCISE SERIES)<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>’s second pandemic<br />

planning tabletop exercise this spring<br />

involved 200 people from <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>,<br />

Caritas and Alberta Cancer Board.<br />

is well-designed, it will allow our staff<br />

to succeed in their designated roles.<br />

No plan is perfect. We need to figure<br />

out where those gaps are and what<br />

lessons can be learned,” said Eric Bone,<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>’s Regional Director,<br />

Office of Emergency Preparedness.<br />

“<strong>The</strong> best written plan is one that can<br />

be changed at a moment’s notice.”<br />

<strong>The</strong> value of Operation Outbreak<br />

was in the dialogue that took place<br />

during the exercise. Communication<br />

strategies were essential for the team<br />

to work together to relay key planning<br />

messages to staff.<br />

“Exercising a plan allows <strong>Capital</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong> staff to understand the process.<br />

It will identify planning weaknesses<br />

and resource gaps, clarify roles and<br />

responsibilities, improve co-ordination,<br />

test equipment and reassure the public<br />

that <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> is prepared,” said<br />

Eric.<br />

At the end of the day – lessons were<br />

learned. <strong>The</strong> emergency preparedness<br />

plan will be further fine-tuned, taking<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> another step closer to<br />

effectively handling pandemic influenza<br />

or any other emergency situation.<br />

<strong>The</strong> human and social costs of a possible pandemic are unimaginable.<br />

But experts predict an outbreak could also have devastating effects on our<br />

economy – potentially costing more than $3 trillion worldwide. Businesses<br />

of all sizes need to manage the risk. Effective plans can help minimize the<br />

damage to the economy and individual operations.<br />

Dr. Sherry Cooper, Chief Economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns, shared her expertise<br />

on the importance of business continuity planning with dozens of businesses<br />

at a <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> breakfast in May. Dr. Cooper estimates a flu pandemic<br />

will cost the Canadian economy anywhere from $20 to $60 billion, depending<br />

on the severity of the outbreak. She predicts the industries most affected will<br />

be poultry, tourism, hospitality, entertainment, sports facilities, food services<br />

and luxury goods suppliers.<br />

Preparing now is critical to limiting the effects of a pandemic. Companies<br />

should be ready to deal with absenteeism, changes in the delivery of public<br />

services, and a slowdown in the global economy.<br />

“Governments, businesses, health services and individuals must continue to<br />

develop continuity and emergency preparedness plans and test and retest these<br />

plans as well as revise them as the situation changes,” says Dr. Cooper.<br />

Business should expect a 30 per cent reduction in the workforce. Cross-training<br />

is essential to have employees prepared to step into critical roles and companies<br />

should plan to have staff work from home if necessary.<br />

Pandemic is unlike other natural disasters, it can be prolonged, with no fixed<br />

location and no set end date.<br />

Dr. Cooper says it’s important to remember that even with a severe pandemic,<br />

roughly 98 per cent of the world’s population will survive. Borders will reopen<br />

and the flow of goods and services will start again. <strong>The</strong> global economy will move<br />

forward and businesses and government will have learned valuable lessons.<br />

For more information on pandemic planning check <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> website at:<br />

http://www.capitalhealth.ca/pandemicbusinesschecklist<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca SUMMER 2006 ~ CHQ 9<br />

STEPHEN WREAKES/CAPITAL HEALTH


COLLABORATING IN CARE<br />

New ‘living laboratory’ puts women and children first<br />

Wendy Beaudoin with three-year-old<br />

daughter Olivia and Dr. Thierry Lacaze,<br />

neonatologist and Acting Director of the<br />

Women and Children’s <strong>Health</strong> Research<br />

Institute.<br />

THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA AND<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> have announced<br />

a joint commitment to create the<br />

region’s first-ever research institute<br />

dedicated to women and children’s<br />

health. Thanks to commitments of<br />

$37 million from our communities<br />

through the Stollery Children’s Hospital<br />

($30 million) and Royal Alexandra<br />

Hospital ($7 million) Foundations,<br />

the new institute will be a potent<br />

force in the national research agenda<br />

in two critical fields.<br />

Clinicians will work with scientists<br />

across six University of Alberta faculties<br />

in the Women and Children’s <strong>Health</strong><br />

Research Institute to study and treat<br />

the full range of women and children’s<br />

health issues, from diagnosing and<br />

treating illness in utero and developing<br />

new treatments for autism, epilepsy<br />

and other child health problems,<br />

to new services for mature women.<br />

<strong>The</strong> institute will consist of three<br />

linked research centres:<br />

1. A children’s clinical research<br />

centre, to be located in the future<br />

Edmonton Clinic across 114 Street<br />

from the Walter C. Mackenzie Centre<br />

2. A women’s clinical research centre,<br />

to be part of the future Lois Hole<br />

Hospital for Women within the<br />

Robbins Pavilion, being built on<br />

the Royal Alexandra Hospital site<br />

3. A basic research centre, to be<br />

located within the future Discovery<br />

Centre being built on 87 Avenue<br />

just north of the University of<br />

Alberta Hospital site<br />

10 CHQ ~ SUMMER 2006 www.capitalhealth.ca<br />

“<strong>The</strong>se three centres will be the ‘life’<br />

in the ‘living laboratory’ that we’re<br />

envisioning for these new facilities,”<br />

says Dr. Terry Klassen, <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>’s<br />

Regional Clinical Program Director for<br />

Child <strong>Health</strong> and University of Alberta<br />

Chair of Pediatrics. “This is the leading<br />

edge of health sciences, where we<br />

study, develop, apply and evaluate<br />

new treatments as we care for patients<br />

in real time. It’s an exciting model and<br />

nowhere else in Canada is it possible<br />

on the scale we’re building here.”<br />

“This is a great day for patients and<br />

all the different health professionals<br />

who care for them,” adds Dr. Wylam<br />

Faught, Site Chief for Women’s <strong>Health</strong><br />

at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and<br />

Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology<br />

for the University, at the May 24 news<br />

conference. “Women will have access<br />

to state-of-the-art care, and the work<br />

done here will benefit people right<br />

across Canada. <strong>The</strong> institute will<br />

not only build on many established<br />

strengths in the region but also help<br />

create new areas of expertise, like a<br />

mature women’s clinic at the Royal<br />

Alexandra.”<br />

Planning for the institute is being<br />

led by Dr. Thierry Lacaze, inaugural<br />

Acting Director. Dr. Lacaze is a neonatologist<br />

at the Stollery Children’s<br />

Hospital and Research Director in<br />

the University of Alberta Department<br />

of Pediatrics. He was recruited to<br />

Edmonton in 2003 from the University<br />

of Paris.<br />

<strong>The</strong> institute will include four new<br />

endowed research Chairs – starting<br />

with Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum,<br />

who is joining the Stollery team this<br />

summer from McMaster University.<br />

Dr. Zwaigenbaum is known internationally<br />

as the author of a 2005<br />

study that pinpointed signs of incipient<br />

autism in infants as young as 12 months,<br />

paving the way for earlier and more<br />

effective intervention.<br />

<strong>The</strong> institute will be devoted to<br />

making life better for patients like<br />

three-year-old Olivia Beaudoin, who<br />

dropped in to the news conference<br />

along with mom Wendy, a nurse<br />

at the Stollery. Wendy told reporters<br />

she’s grateful for Olivia’s care – which<br />

started with a premature birth and<br />

eventually included five neurosurgeries.<br />

“Nobody should have to live their<br />

first year in the hospital, and so I think<br />

this is a huge step as far as research<br />

money to develop different techniques<br />

and different equipment. As a community,<br />

we need to strive for no surgeries<br />

for children, and this is a huge step in<br />

that direction.”<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> President and CEO,<br />

Sheila Weatherill, says Alberta is in<br />

the midst of a “baby boom” as young<br />

families move here for jobs, so the<br />

institute couldn’t be coming at a<br />

better time. “Our region’s population<br />

has grown eight per cent in the last<br />

five years; but births in our hospitals<br />

are up by 15 per cent, partly due to<br />

steadily growing numbers of moms<br />

and babies referred from northern<br />

Alberta, the Northwest Territories<br />

and elsewhere.” In total, she says, the<br />

region expects about 15,000 babies<br />

to be born here this year.<br />

PAT MARSTON/CAPITAL HEALTH


Community<br />

Pride Inspires<br />

the Name<br />

STEPHEN WREAKES/CAPITAL HEALTH<br />

the<br />

Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland<br />

Clinic draw patients from around<br />

the world, and in five years time, so<br />

will the Edmonton Clinic. In 2011,<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> and the University of<br />

Alberta will officially open the model<br />

for future academic health centres<br />

in North America and highlight<br />

Edmonton’s place on the health<br />

care map.<br />

Formerly called the <strong>Health</strong> Sciences<br />

Ambulatory Learning Centre, the<br />

new name is the strategic outcome<br />

brainstormed by University of Alberta<br />

President, Indira Samarasekera, and<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> President and CEO,<br />

Sheila Weatherill, who says, “<strong>The</strong><br />

name Edmonton Clinic reflects the<br />

pride we have in our community.”<br />

<strong>The</strong> $577-million clinic will concentrate<br />

health services, such as day clinics<br />

and diagnostic services from the<br />

University of Alberta Hospital and<br />

Stollery Children’s Hospital, into a<br />

“one-stop” family-centred complex.<br />

<strong>The</strong> result will free up space on existing<br />

wards and about 200 inpatient hospital<br />

beds.<br />

In addition to health services, the clinic<br />

will create interdisciplinary educational<br />

environment for 6,000 students from<br />

the university’s health sciences faculties.<br />

It is an innovative solution to the<br />

needs of a maturing capital region.<br />

Sheila elaborates, “This plan will help<br />

to ensure that we have the beds and<br />

trained health service providers to<br />

meet the current and future health<br />

needs of our growing and aging<br />

population.”<br />

<strong>The</strong> Edmonton Clinic will serve approximately<br />

one million patients annually.<br />

Deb Gordon, Vice-President and Chief<br />

Operating Officer of the University of<br />

Alberta Hospital and Stollery Children’s<br />

Hospital, says, “<strong>The</strong> Edmonton Clinic<br />

will integrate first-rate facilities,<br />

the electronic health record, and<br />

sophisticated scheduling systems so<br />

rural patients receive expert testing,<br />

advice and treatment quickly.”<br />

Decreased waiting times will see more<br />

patients being treated, and patients<br />

with complicated conditions won’t<br />

have to travel as much.<br />

<strong>The</strong> 168,000 square-metre clinic<br />

is in the design stage, which will take<br />

about a year. “Detailed planning is<br />

complete and now <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> and<br />

the University of Alberta are assembling<br />

teams of designers and builders,”<br />

says Brent Skinner, Chief Planning<br />

Officer for <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>. “Because<br />

the centre has a separate design<br />

team for both clinic and academic<br />

components, we’ve appointed a<br />

master architect, Mark Henderson<br />

of Callison Architecture, to ensure<br />

the design teams are working towards<br />

a common vision.”<br />

Construction of the Edmonton Clinic<br />

will be tendered in phases with the<br />

first stage beginning in spring 2007.<br />

<strong>The</strong> clinic will be located on the<br />

west side of 114 Street, next to<br />

the LRT station and connected to<br />

the University of Alberta Hospital<br />

by a pedway.<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca SUMMER 2006 ~ CHQ 11


COLLABORATING IN CARE<br />

Get Weight Wise f<br />

TOP: Johanna Dietrich, <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

Website Content Manager; Dr. Richard<br />

Lewanczuk, Regional Medical Director,<br />

Chronic Disease Management and Professor<br />

of Endocrinolgy and Metabolism at the<br />

University of Alberta; and John Stanton,<br />

Community Ambassador for Weight Wise<br />

MIDDLE: Tracy Friesen, Integration Pilates<br />

BOTTOM: Gizmo Williams, Ex-Eskimos<br />

football player<br />

TOP: Anastasia Rozhdestvensky, Dance<br />

Alberta<br />

BOTTOM: Marg Zapf, executive associate<br />

for Joanna Pawlyshyn, executive lead<br />

for Weight Wise, and Vice-President<br />

and Chief Operating Officer of<br />

Royal Alexandra Hospital<br />

TOP: Dr. Geoff Ball, Director of <strong>Capital</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong> Pediatric Centre for Weight and<br />

<strong>Health</strong> and Assistant Professor at the<br />

Department of Pediatrics at the university<br />

MIDDLE: Leah Gravells, Manager of<br />

Nutritional Services, <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

BOTTOM: Velerie Chowaniec, Edmonton<br />

Yoga Studio<br />

12 CHQ ~ SUMMER 2006 www.capitalhealth.ca


or the long haul<br />

KAREN KARBASHEWSKI/CAPITAL HEALTH<br />

New effort promotes participation,<br />

lifestyle changes<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> is putting residents in the region in the<br />

driver’s seat with their new Weight Wise In It for the Long<br />

Haul initiative, a drive that is geared at helping residents<br />

eat healthier and increase their activity level while reducing<br />

their Body Mass Index and waist circumference.<br />

“We know that change will not occur<br />

overnight and that’s why we are in<br />

this for the long haul,” says Joanna<br />

Pawlyshyn, executive lead for <strong>Capital</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong>’s Weight Wise initiative and<br />

Vice-President and Chief Operating<br />

Officer of Royal Alexandra Hospital.<br />

“We want to help residents in this<br />

region become healthier by providing<br />

them with information, tools and<br />

the incentive to help them become<br />

the most weight wise population<br />

in the country.”<br />

Weight Wise In It for the Long Haul<br />

is part of the larger Weight Wise initiative<br />

that <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> introduced<br />

last year. This comprehensive approach<br />

to addressing the obesity epidemic<br />

that exists in our population includes<br />

a number of programs and services<br />

ranging from promoting healthy<br />

lives to offering bariatric surgery for<br />

extremely obese adults. All of these<br />

efforts are designed to help adults<br />

and children reach healthy weights<br />

while supporting them to make lifestyle<br />

changes for improved health.<br />

Essentially it’s about creating healthy<br />

weights for healthy lives.<br />

Part of the Weight Wise In It for the<br />

Long Haul effort includes putting the<br />

tools and information into the hands<br />

of the public so that they can make<br />

wise and healthy decisions about<br />

the food that they eat, their activity<br />

levels, and other lifestyle factors.<br />

Using the interactive Weight Wise<br />

website residents can register<br />

to receive monthly newsletters,<br />

weekly reminders about inputting<br />

their progress on eating healthy<br />

and increasing their activity levels,<br />

as well as tracking their weight loss<br />

and waist circumference. All this<br />

is available just by signing up at<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca/weightwise.<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> will also work with<br />

its partners and others in the communities<br />

so that they can join in on the<br />

journey and help residents reach our<br />

objective – healthy weights for healthy<br />

lives for both children and adults.<br />

“We know that obesity is not something<br />

that the health system can<br />

tackle alone. It requires each one<br />

of us as individuals and as family<br />

members and community members<br />

to make wise choices about diet,<br />

exercise, and creating supportive<br />

environments to help people make<br />

good decisions,” says John Stanton,<br />

Community Ambassador for Weight<br />

Wise.<br />

“Becoming more weight wise is about<br />

making long-term commitments and<br />

lifestyle changes and that’s what we are<br />

looking to achieve with this exciting<br />

new effort. I encourage residents<br />

to sign up and join us as we work<br />

together to improve the health of<br />

our region.”<br />

Members of <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>’s<br />

Weight Wise Community Network<br />

support the prevention and<br />

management of weight and<br />

obesity issues and help individuals<br />

to improve healthy living habits.<br />

To find out how you can become<br />

a Network Member visit:<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca/weightwise<br />

CHIP – Coronary <strong>Health</strong><br />

Improvement Program<br />

Centre for Cognitive<br />

Behavioral <strong>The</strong>rapy<br />

Changes for Women<br />

City of Edmonton –<br />

Leisure, Sports and<br />

Fitness Facilities<br />

Club Fit Corporation<br />

Fit N Well Personal<br />

Training Inc.<br />

Kwantum Wellness Centre<br />

MacEwan Centre for<br />

Sport and Wellness<br />

Maximum Motion Personal<br />

Fitness Training, Inc.<br />

Rejuvenation <strong>Health</strong><br />

Services, Inc.<br />

Running Room Canada, Inc.<br />

Strathcona County,<br />

Recreation, Parks and Culture<br />

University of Alberta<br />

Fitness and Lifestyle Centre<br />

Weight Watchers of<br />

Alberta, Ltd.<br />

YMCA Edmonton<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca SUMMER 2006 ~ CHQ 13


IN THE COMMUNITY<br />

Stollery’s PICU celebrates 10 Years<br />

<strong>The</strong> sky’s the<br />

limit for this Elite<br />

Transport Team<br />

RN Joanna Byers sits beside the transport sled in the plane with<br />

flight paramedic David Hole behind the monitor.<br />

ozens of pairs of<br />

winter boots are<br />

lined up and ready<br />

to be laced for a<br />

mad dash, even in<br />

the heat of Alberta’s<br />

dry summer.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y belong to an elite<br />

group of specially trained<br />

physicians, nurses and respiratory<br />

therapists who make up the Stollery<br />

Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Intensive<br />

Care Unit (PICU) transport team.<br />

This team provides specialized care<br />

of severely ill children during hospitalto-hospital<br />

transfers and transports by<br />

ambulance, helicopter and airplane.<br />

<strong>The</strong> team can be mobilized for a trip<br />

as far as the Arctic in just 20 minutes.<br />

This month, the PICU transport team<br />

celebrates its 10th anniversary.<br />

“In 1996, the first formally trained<br />

PICU transport team in Alberta was<br />

launched,” says the group’s Medical<br />

Director Dr. Allan de Caen. “We found<br />

that there were children in hospitals<br />

within Edmonton and surrounding<br />

rural communities who were critically<br />

ill and needed not only definitive care<br />

from Pediatrics within Edmonton, but<br />

needed to be transported to us without<br />

deteriorating en route. For this<br />

reason, a specialized PICU transport<br />

team was developed.”<br />

A decade later, the team is now considered<br />

one of the busiest in Canada<br />

and serves the largest geographic area,<br />

stretching from parts of eastern B.C.<br />

and the Yukon, across the central<br />

Arctic, and extending down into<br />

eastern Saskatchewan and southern<br />

Alberta as necessary. <strong>The</strong> team can<br />

bring the resources of the Stollery<br />

Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Intensive<br />

Care Unit to the patient’s bedside.<br />

“We’ve learned to improvise in some<br />

very unusual situations,” says the<br />

team’s Unit Manager, Vanessa French.<br />

“We’ve coped with IV lines freezing in<br />

the Arctic, monitors that stop working<br />

in bitter cold conditions, and been<br />

COURTESY PICU TRANSPORT TEAM (PLANE)<br />

14 CHQ ~ SUMMER 2006 www.capitalhealth.ca


Stollery Children’s Hospital’s<br />

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit<br />

transport team:<br />

Back row, left to right:<br />

Eileen Heidler (RT), Shevaun<br />

Clark (RT), Darrell Derkach (RT),<br />

Shannon Duncan (RN), Kelly<br />

Stabler (RT), Colleen Gresiuk<br />

(RN), Dr. Jon Duff, Lindsay<br />

Lonsdale (RT), Christine Bichai<br />

(RT), Dr. Allan de Caen, Dave<br />

Schoepp (RT), Karen Tomlinson<br />

(RN), Esther Weathers (RT),<br />

Vanessa French (unit Manager).<br />

Front row, left to right:<br />

Joy Mekechuk (RN), Misty Reis<br />

(RN), Debra Anderson (RN),<br />

Tonia Polak (RN) Klara Vigen<br />

(RN), Cindi Ryan (RT).<br />

PAT MARSTON/CAPITAL HEALTH (GROUP)<br />

faced with a dispatch to pick up one<br />

critically ill child and on arrival learning<br />

we needed to transport three.”<br />

In the past 10 years, 2,500 sick children<br />

from the <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> region and<br />

beyond have been helped by this<br />

group. One of the most memorable<br />

and challenging transports occurred<br />

last summer when the team was asked<br />

to transport a cardiac patient from<br />

Winnipeg to the Stollery Children’s<br />

Hospital.<br />

Respiratory therapist, Kelly Stabbler,<br />

was part of the mission along with<br />

the Stollery Children’s Hospital’s Extracorporeal<br />

Life Support Team. “<strong>The</strong>re<br />

was so much equipment involved that<br />

we had to use a military Hercules<br />

aircraft for the transport. It took an<br />

amazing amount of co-ordination<br />

<strong>The</strong> team can be mobilized for a trip<br />

as far as the Arctic in just 20 minutes.<br />

with the medical team in Winnipeg,<br />

the emergency medical services<br />

personnel, even Winnipeg’s fire<br />

department.”<br />

<strong>The</strong> sky remains the limit for this<br />

team as it welcomes another decade<br />

of providing critical care for children.<br />

“We want to see an increase in our<br />

role in outreach education,” according<br />

to Dr. de Caen. “It takes time to<br />

reach most of our referral centres,<br />

and whatever we can do to better<br />

prepare the health care team in those<br />

centres to care for critically ill children<br />

before we arrive will ultimately<br />

make a difference in the outcome<br />

of children.”<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca SUMMER 2006 ~ CHQ 15


IN THE COMMUNITY<br />

<strong>The</strong> Stollery Children’s Hospital Turns 5<br />

LEFT: Six-year-old Lauryn Stubbs is with<br />

sisters Eden and Morganne, Dad Martin<br />

and Mom Jacqueline.<br />

BELOW, TOP: Lauryn presents her framed<br />

birthday card to Premier Ralph Klein,<br />

while Mom and <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Board<br />

Chair Neil Wilkinson look on.<br />

BELOW, MIDDLE: Dr. Klassen, Premier Klein<br />

and Michele Lahey, Executive Vice-President<br />

and Chief Operating Officer, <strong>Health</strong> Services,<br />

watch the children blow out the candles.<br />

BELOW, BOTTOM: Premier Klein signs<br />

the keepsake banner.<br />

Premier Ralph Klein joins patients, physicians,<br />

staff and guests at the Stollery’s fifth birthday<br />

party on August 3.<br />

“It’s been great to see the Stollery grow into<br />

a centre of excellence, not just for Albertans<br />

but for all Canadians,” said the Premier,<br />

who received a special birthday card from<br />

six-year-old oncology patient Lauryn Stubbs.<br />

Several former Stollery patients were on hand<br />

to sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candles<br />

on the teddy bear cake.<br />

“Partnerships among <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, the University of Alberta<br />

and our community as a whole have allowed us to become<br />

one of the top pediatric facilities in North America in just<br />

five years,” said Dr. Terry Klassen, Regional Clinical Program<br />

Director, Child <strong>Health</strong>, and Chair, Pediatrics, Faculty of<br />

Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Stollery was granted official hospital status in 2001<br />

and this year will receive 140,000 patients visits.<br />

PAT MARSTON/CAPITAL HEALTH<br />

16 CHQ ~ SUMMER 2006 www.capitalhealth.ca


BEST PRACTICES<br />

ABACUS Brings Diversity of Professionals<br />

and Technologies Under One Roof<br />

Artistic rendering of ABACUS<br />

<strong>The</strong> Alberta Cardiovascular<br />

and Stroke Research Centre<br />

(ABACUS) is a new “research<br />

hospital within a hospital.”<br />

Located in the lower level<br />

of the Mazankowski Alberta<br />

Heart Institute, it’s the only<br />

Canadian research centre of<br />

its kind physically integrated<br />

into an acute care setting.<br />

It will assemble scientists, health care<br />

professionals, clinicians and trainees<br />

under one roof to focus on research<br />

into the prevention, detection and cure<br />

for cardiovascular disease and stroke.<br />

Heart disease, stroke, and blood vessel<br />

or vascular disease make up cardiovascular<br />

disease – the leading cause of<br />

death in Canadian women and men.<br />

“<strong>The</strong> facility is what the Canada<br />

Institutes of <strong>Health</strong> Research envisions<br />

as the optimum way of doing research,”<br />

says Dr. Stephen Archer, Scientific<br />

Director of the centre. “ABACUS is<br />

a collection of all things needed for<br />

a research hospital.”<br />

<strong>The</strong> facility includes an area for<br />

clinical research on heart attack and<br />

stroke patients, a basic science lab<br />

to study disease at a cellular level<br />

and a clinical trials area where new<br />

drugs and protocols are tested. Soon<br />

to follow is a wireless classroom.<br />

<strong>The</strong> $20 million ABACUS Research<br />

Centre, scheduled to open this fall, has<br />

been supported by the University of<br />

Alberta Hospital Foundation, Canada<br />

Foundation for Innovation, and both<br />

federal and provincial governments.<br />

ABACUS complements the vision<br />

of the Mazankowski Alberta Heart<br />

Institute for a future where cardiovascular<br />

disease is no longer the<br />

leading cause of death in Canada<br />

and the best health care is available<br />

here in Alberta. It does so by pushing<br />

the research envelope to find new<br />

and better ways to prevent and<br />

treat heart disease.<br />

Its location in the heart institute will<br />

enable researchers to actually be able<br />

to study patients in the middle of<br />

their cardiovascular event in a hospital<br />

setting. Patient’s medical needs can<br />

be tended to while researchers study<br />

their event as it is happening.<br />

“It’s a hot first,” says Dr. Archer.<br />

“<strong>The</strong> design of ABACUS is both<br />

philosophical and practical, and<br />

will knock down barriers between<br />

biology, radiology, cardiology and<br />

neurology.”<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca SUMMER 2006 ~ CHQ 17


BEST PRACTICES<br />

From healthier vending machine products to Supported<br />

Patient Employment in the community, Rosie Thornton<br />

has seen her share of quality initiatives during her time<br />

as Quality Improvement Coordinator at Alberta Hospital<br />

Edmonton (AHE). That’s what makes AHE’s annual Quality<br />

Improvement Week so special to her.<br />

Left to right:<br />

Christine North, Quality Improvement<br />

Coordinator – Geriatric Psychiatry<br />

Janice Godbout, Quality Improvement<br />

Coordinator – Adult Psychiatry<br />

Rosie Thornton, Quality Improvement<br />

Coordinator, AHE Site<br />

Susan Hample, Quality Improvement<br />

Administrative Assistant<br />

Alberta Hospital Edmonton<br />

Celebrates its Fifth Annual<br />

Quality Improvement Week<br />

“This is a positive way to reinforce the<br />

principles of quality improvement in<br />

a positive and collaborative fashion,”<br />

says Rosie, who has worked at the<br />

hospital since 2001. “We wanted to<br />

heighten staff’s awareness of quality<br />

improvement initiatives in all areas of<br />

the hospital and to show that everyone<br />

from management to front line staff<br />

are involved.”<br />

2006 also marked the launch of<br />

the Steps to a <strong>Health</strong>ier You site-wide<br />

initiative, which looks at increasing a<br />

patient’s physical activity and teaching<br />

patients to make healthier nutritional<br />

choices. Building on this initiative, a<br />

committee looked at healthier vending<br />

options at this site for both patients and<br />

staff. Working with a clinical dietician,<br />

the new project labels vending items<br />

as green (healthy choice), yellow<br />

(use in moderation) and red (choose<br />

infrequently), with the intention of<br />

increasing the number of green items<br />

individuals choose. Accompanying<br />

the changes will be in-services and<br />

other nutritional teaching to ensure<br />

ROBERT STRAND/CAPITAL HEALTH<br />

18 CHQ ~ SUMMER 2006 www.capitalhealth.ca


users are aware of what the labels<br />

mean, and what makes the “green”<br />

items healthier and better choices.<br />

Alberta Hospital Edmonton has<br />

celebrated five Quality Improvement<br />

Weeks, the most recent in June 2006,<br />

each highlighting the progress that’s<br />

been made on a variety of projects.<br />

Another component of the celebrations<br />

is the Staff Recognition day, a twohour<br />

open house held at the Dorran<br />

Auditorium. Featuring education<br />

displays that showcase the evolution<br />

of quality at AHE, research, and highlights<br />

from the other services within<br />

the Regional Mental <strong>Health</strong> Program,<br />

the event also recognizes the top five<br />

annual initiatives from AHE as voted<br />

on by hospital employees. <strong>The</strong> focus<br />

is projects that contribute significantly<br />

to patient care. It is a time to recognize<br />

and thank staff for their valuable contributions<br />

and dedication to improving<br />

the system for enhanced patient care.<br />

Hospital staff members enjoy the opportunity<br />

to celebrate their successes.<br />

“Staff also has access throughout<br />

the year to a registry of completed<br />

and ongoing QI projects to view all<br />

the initiatives since 1999. <strong>The</strong> staff<br />

is now able to apply best practices<br />

to a number of similar quality issues,<br />

without having to re-invent the wheel,”<br />

says Rosie, who leads a team of quality<br />

improvement professionals at AHE.<br />

“<strong>The</strong> quality improvement registries<br />

are now online at the AHE intranet site,<br />

so people can access them whenever<br />

they want.”<br />

“<strong>The</strong> staff recognition component<br />

of AHE’s annual Quality Improvement<br />

Week is so important,” says Paula Tyler,<br />

Vice-President and Chief Operating<br />

Officer for Mental <strong>Health</strong>. “Quality<br />

Improvement is most successful at the<br />

grass roots level, with front-line staff<br />

identifying an area for improvement<br />

and putting together a team to address<br />

and resolve the issue. <strong>The</strong> large majority<br />

of projects are completed by frontline<br />

staff with the full support of their<br />

supervisors – that’s what makes this<br />

week so special.”<br />

Examples of previous initiatives<br />

include the extremely successful<br />

On Time, Every Time, a project undertaken<br />

by Transportation Services to<br />

determine the number and reason for<br />

missed or late patient appointments.<br />

By gathering data about circumstances<br />

surrounding transportation issues,<br />

the team was able to determine that<br />

purchasing a small wheelchair van to<br />

help accommodate the transport of<br />

patients to their destinations would<br />

help them meet their goal of being<br />

on time, every time.<br />

“<strong>The</strong> objective of Quality Improvement<br />

Week is to strengthen the quality<br />

culture of <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>,” says Paula,<br />

who notes the projects from AHE aspire<br />

to the same success as other regional<br />

quality programs such as netSAFE,<br />

Good Catch and the new medication<br />

management program at the University<br />

of Alberta Hospital. “As we strive<br />

to increase our quality of service at<br />

Alberta Hospital Edmonton, we are<br />

helping raise the quality bar across<br />

the region.”<br />

Over the past five years the events of<br />

Alberta Hospital Edmonton’s Quality<br />

Improvement Week have grown<br />

exponentially. Last year more than<br />

300 people attended the Recognition<br />

Day event, up from 160 at the second<br />

annual event in 2003.<br />

“164 quality improvement projects<br />

have been presented to the Site<br />

QI Committee from December<br />

1999 to March 2005,” says Rosie.<br />

“<strong>The</strong>re is no question that the quality<br />

improvement culture at AHE will<br />

continue to be an important focus<br />

for years to come.”<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca<br />

Your reliable source for<br />

health information.<br />

From where to find a physician to learning<br />

more about staying healthy and managing<br />

chronic illness, <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>'s website is<br />

your personal 24-hour resource for health<br />

information. Look up a wide range of<br />

health topics, procedures, current events<br />

or the latest research and technology<br />

updates in the <strong>Capital</strong> region. You can<br />

even access the physician-approved<br />

health advice from <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Link.<br />

All from the convenience of your home.<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> aims to keep health information<br />

and advice available to you,<br />

when you need it. So bookmark us today<br />

for a quick and convenient way to find the<br />

information you need to make better health<br />

choices for you and your family.<br />

Call 408-LINK (5465)


BEST PRACTICES<br />

Leading<br />

the Way<br />

in <strong>Health</strong> Informatics<br />

Her interest in technology is apparent when you walk into<br />

her office. Her focus on patient care is evident when you leave.<br />

“My interest is in people and organizational<br />

issues,” says a leading expert<br />

in health informatics, “and coming<br />

to Edmonton is a natural progression<br />

in that interest.”<br />

In April, Dr. Nicola Shaw was appointed<br />

as the region’s first Research Chair of<br />

<strong>Health</strong> Informatics, a position jointly<br />

created by <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> and the<br />

Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.<br />

She is based in the Integrated Centre<br />

for Care Advancement through<br />

Research (iCARE), also a joint partnership<br />

between <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> and the<br />

University of Alberta.<br />

Recruited from the Centre for <strong>Health</strong>care<br />

Innovation and Improvement,<br />

Child and Family Research Institute<br />

in Vancouver, Dr. Shaw concentrates<br />

on the implementation, development,<br />

and the evaluation of electronic patient<br />

records in primary care. Dr. Shoo Lee,<br />

Scientific Director of iCARE, is enthusiastic<br />

about the association, “She is<br />

a great addition to the team. <strong>Health</strong><br />

informatics is a critical piece for the<br />

improvement of patient care.”<br />

20 CHQ ~ SUMMER 2006 www.capitalhealth.ca<br />

Dr. Shaw is applying her expertise in<br />

health outcomes research on a strategic<br />

level with <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> to evaluate<br />

and enhance netCARE’s potential.<br />

netCARE is <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>’s regional<br />

electronic health record. “Applying<br />

research in health informatics improves<br />

patient care, and <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> is a<br />

national leader in that advancement<br />

through netCARE.”<br />

“Outcomes need to be evaluated<br />

with the needs of both the health<br />

specialists and patients in mind.<br />

We must consider the bigger vision:<br />

what are we trying to accomplish,<br />

a course of action, and what will be<br />

the patient’s experience?”<br />

Dr. Tom Feasby, <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

Vice-President of Academic Affairs<br />

and Associate Dean, Clinical Affairs,<br />

Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry,<br />

supports that vision, “Outcomes under<br />

real conditions are what matter to<br />

people. It is essential to find out how<br />

technology can make a difference in<br />

patient care.”<br />

To aid that vision, Dr. Shaw works<br />

with groups such as Canada <strong>Health</strong><br />

Infoway to develop an understanding<br />

around the sharing of medical records.<br />

As for the short-term? Over the next<br />

four months, she is sending out a<br />

calling card, “<strong>Health</strong> informatics is<br />

multidisciplinary, and I am interested<br />

in collaborating with experts and<br />

research students interested in<br />

managing information.”<br />

And for the long-term? Donna Strating,<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Vice-President of<br />

Information Systems and Equipment<br />

and CIO, is looking forward to what<br />

Dr. Shaw brings to the table. “Her value<br />

will be demonstrated again and again<br />

as we move into other electronic<br />

health record (EHR) projects.”<br />

Dr. Shaw holds a doctorate in <strong>Health</strong><br />

Informatics from Central Lancashire in<br />

collaboration with Oxford University<br />

Postgraduate Medical Education &<br />

Training Office (UK).<br />

STEPHEN WREAKES/CAPITAL HEALTH


NEWS AND NOTES<br />

SEARCH Canada –<br />

A Resource for Research<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Welcomes<br />

New Board Member<br />

Neil Wilkinson, Chair, and members<br />

of the <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Board welcome<br />

Robert J. (Bob) Normand as a new<br />

member of the Board.<br />

“As a leader in the community, Bob has<br />

impressive accomplishments to his credit<br />

and brings valuable expertise to the Board,”<br />

says Neil. “His solid understanding of the<br />

financial management system, combined with<br />

his leadership experience will be an asset as<br />

we look at innovation in the region to meet<br />

the needs of a growing and aging population<br />

and ensure residents have access to an affordable<br />

health system.”<br />

Bob Normand is currently the President and<br />

CEO of ATB Financial. He has over 25 years<br />

of banking management experience with<br />

the Bank of Montreal in Québec, Ontario and<br />

Alberta, and was the Vice-President, Edmonton<br />

Region BMO prior to joining ATB. Bob holds<br />

both a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) and a<br />

Masters in Business Administration, and is a<br />

Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers.<br />

Bob has also served as director of several<br />

foundations and boards such as the University<br />

of Alberta Hospital Foundation, Montreal’s<br />

Douglas Hospital Foundation, Royal Victoria<br />

Hospital Centre Board and Montfort Hospital<br />

Board in Ottawa. Active in the community,<br />

Bob is a director of STARS Air Ambulance<br />

Society, Citadel <strong>The</strong>atre Society and <strong>The</strong><br />

Conference Board of Canada.<br />

Led by CEO Sarah Hayward, SEARCH (Swift Efficient<br />

Application of Research in Community <strong>Health</strong>) Canada<br />

has become a valuable resource for health organizations,<br />

looking to improve capacity by equipping<br />

their staff to develop, disseminate and use research<br />

information to improve health outcomes. SEARCH,<br />

a non-profit organization offers programs to help<br />

health organizations support decisions about health<br />

care planning and priorities with sound evidence,<br />

through the development of their people’s research<br />

skills.<br />

Marianne Stewart, <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>’s Vice-President<br />

and Chief Operating Officer, Primary Care, and<br />

a Board member of SEARCH Canada notes, “SEARCH<br />

provides participants with knowledge and hands-on<br />

experience in research methods and interpreting<br />

findings, while teaching them to work as a team<br />

and establish a network of resources, which is key<br />

in the delivery of health services.”<br />

According to Dr. Tom Feasby, <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>’s<br />

Vice-President, Academic Affairs, “this made-in-<br />

Alberta program is a great asset to Alberta’s health<br />

regions, helping managers and providers use<br />

evidence to improve health care delivery.”<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>’s two current participants are from<br />

Community Care, Rehabilitation and Geriatrics.<br />

Kari Elliott, Program Development Coordinator and<br />

Marg Mooney, Acting Director from the Community<br />

Rehabilitation Program, started the program in<br />

May 2005 and will complete it in June 2007. <strong>The</strong><br />

<strong>Capital</strong> Care Group also has a participant, Clinical<br />

Specialist Agnes Mitchell.<br />

SEARCH Canada is governed, supported and funded<br />

by its member organizations including the Alberta<br />

Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and<br />

Alberta’s nine health regions.<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca SUMMER 2006 ~ CHQ 21


NEWS AND NOTES<br />

Congratulations!<br />

❧❧❧<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Board,<br />

staff and physicians<br />

congratulate<br />

Dr. E. Anne Fanning,<br />

Professor Emeritus of the<br />

Division of Infectious Diseases,<br />

University of Alberta,<br />

Dr. Zaheer Lakhani,<br />

cardiologist,<br />

Royal Alexandra Hospital<br />

and<br />

Sheila Weatherill,<br />

President and CEO,<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

on their July appointments<br />

as members of<br />

the Order of Canada.<br />

Congratulations also to<br />

Bill Comrie,<br />

Campaign Chair, Mazankowski<br />

Alberta Heart Institute,<br />

MARK YOUR<br />

CALENDARS!<br />

Canadian Society of Telehealth’s<br />

9th Annual Conference –<br />

Telehealth: e-solutions for<br />

our future<br />

Oct. 15-17, 2006<br />

Shaw Conference Centre<br />

Edmonton<br />

Hosted for the first time in<br />

Edmonton, this conference<br />

will feature the latest scientific,<br />

technical and clinical developments.<br />

For more information and/or<br />

to register, contact Regional<br />

Telehealth at 780-735-0668<br />

<strong>Health</strong> Informatics Bootcamp<br />

Nov. 1-3, 2006<br />

Mayfield Inn & Suites<br />

Edmonton<br />

Hosted by <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, NAIT, the<br />

University of Alberta and Waterloo<br />

Institute for <strong>Health</strong> Informatics<br />

Research (WIHIR)<br />

For more information<br />

call 1-800-860-7901<br />

Register at:<br />

http://hi.uwaterloo.ca/bootcamp<br />

WebLinks<br />

Accelerating Primary Care –<br />

Gaining Momentum<br />

Feb. 14-16, 2007<br />

<strong>The</strong> Westin Edmonton<br />

Sponsored by <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

and the University of Alberta<br />

For more information go to<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca/primarycare<br />

or e-mail primarycare@buksa.com<br />

<strong>The</strong> Greying Nation<br />

March 21-23, 2007<br />

Shaw Conference Centre<br />

Edmonton<br />

<strong>The</strong> first bi-annual Greying Nation<br />

national conference will address<br />

how the health care sector can<br />

adapt care to the changing needs<br />

of the population in the later stages<br />

in the life cycle.<br />

Stephen Lewis, Commissioner of<br />

the World <strong>Health</strong> Organization’s<br />

Commission on the Social<br />

Determinants of <strong>Health</strong> will<br />

open the conference.<br />

For more information, or to<br />

be added to the mailing list<br />

for a full conference brochure,<br />

e-mail GRHEdServices@cha.ab.ca,<br />

or call 780-735-7912 (toll-free<br />

1-877-877-8714).<br />

who was appointed<br />

Officer of the Order of Canada.<br />

❧❧❧<br />

<strong>The</strong> Order of Canada<br />

recognizes outstanding lifetime<br />

achievement and service.<br />

Resources of interest on <strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong>’s website<br />

How <strong>Health</strong>y Are We?<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca/MOHreports<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Business Plan 2006-2009<br />

www.capitalhealth.ca/BusinessPlans<br />

<strong>The</strong> Report on the <strong>Health</strong> of Albertans<br />

http://www.health.gov.ab.ca/public/HAlbertans06.htm<br />

22 CHQ ~ SUMMER 2006 www.capitalhealth.ca


O P E N I N G I N 2 0 0 8<br />

LOIS HOLE<br />

HOSPITAL<br />

FOR WOMEN<br />

<strong>The</strong> new Lois Hole Hospital<br />

for Women, located within the<br />

Royal Alexandra Hospital, will<br />

provide women with the very<br />

best of care, supported by<br />

leading-edge research and the<br />

training of today and tomorrow’s<br />

women’s health professionals.<br />

Support the campaign<br />

for the Lois Hole Hospital for Women<br />

www.loisholehospital.com call (780) 735-4723<br />

RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO:<br />

<strong>Capital</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Public Affairs<br />

1J2.50 Walter C.Mackenzie Centre<br />

8440-112 Street<br />

Edmonton, AB T6G 2B7<br />

Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement Number 40639561

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