PATIENTS

Our patients and their families are at the heart of everything we do. In 2023-24, we focused on making care more safe, equitable, and accessible for the patients we serve. We also invested in programs aimed at the prevention and early detection of health complications and disease, helping patients stay well in their own communities.

Scroll down to read some of the many ways Hamilton Health Sciences teams, enabled by the support and collaboration of the provincial government and community partners, made a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of our patients.

Keeping patients healthier in the community

As a hospital, we feel it’s not just our job to respond when people become very sick. Our teams are actively working to support the health of patients before they require hospital care. In 2023-24, they made an impact through a number of initiatives including:

Socks Off! Saving limbs

The launch of the innovative Socks Off! initiative, which aims to reduce the need for lower limb amputation among patients living with diabetes and vascular disease. The initiative is in partnership with the Greater Hamilton Health Network (GHHN), one of Ontario’s Health Teams.

Training paramedics in palliative care

HHS, our Centre for Paramedic Education and Research (CPER), and regional emergency medical services partners have collaborated to provide better support for patients who are at their end of life. As of 2023-24, CPER has trained more than 1500 paramedics in the Hamilton region to provide a tailored approach to patients with palliative care needs. This unique program has helped more than 60% of palliative patients to comfortably remain at home, where they prefer to stay. The program has strong support from patients, families and paramedics.

Expanding Indigenous eye care

Dr. Kourosh Sabri, an ophthalmologist at McMaster Children’s Hospital, spearheads an innovative outreach program to provide eye exams to Indigenous children in remote Northern Ontario. In 2023 this initiative, aimed at enhancing access to routine eye care and glasses, has now expanded into Saskatchewan. With this expansion, more children will receive vital vision care, contributing not only to their improved eyesight but to their overall health and wellbeing.

Improving the quality and safety of care

Our hospital’s vision is to provide the Best Care for All. This means ensuring that the care we provide is safe, informed by the best available evidence, and that it aims to ensure patients have the best possible health outcome. There are endless stories to tell about how our teams advanced quality and safety in 2023-24. Here are just a few:

Extensive needs program launch

In 2023 we launched the Extensive Needs Program at McMaster Children’s Hospital, which applies a team-based approach to support the physical, mental, behavioural, developmental, and social needs of children with multiple, complex diagnoses. The program was launched in conjunction with Holland Bloorview Hospital, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, and several local partners and saw more than 300 children enrolled in 2023-24.

Right medication. Right dose.

In 2023-24 we increased our use of patient armband barcode technology to validate medication administration. In addition to the barcode technology, this system is supported by a robust network of pharmacists who help ensure that every patient gets the right medication at the right dose, reducing the risk of medication errors.

Reducing ambulance offload time

We’ve partnered with regional emergency medical services to significantly reduce the amount of time paramedics spend in our emergency departments (EDs) while they wait to transfer a patient into our hospital’s care. By implementing new and innovative practices in our Juravinski Hospital and Hamilton General Hospital EDs, we’re able to facilitate a quicker transfer of care so that paramedics can get back on the road sooner.

Creating equitable care for everyone

Health equity means striving for equitable access to health care for all people. Guided by our Five-Year Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan, launched in Summer 2023, we’ve made strides in reducing health inequities in our hospital and community. For example:

Understanding our patients better

In 2023 we piloted CARE Data, an initiative to collect patient demographic information like Indigenous identity, race, ethnicity, and language preference. This helps us better understand our patient populations and the barriers they face to receiving equitable, quality care. The program is currently in place in select areas of our hospital with the goal of making it standard practice across our organization, informed by the feedback of patients and health care providers.

Indigenous Health Plan

HHS has prioritized Indigenous Health and Truth and Reconciliation, acknowledging constitutionally protected Indigenous rights. With guidance from an Indigenous Strategic Advisor, we’re co-designing an Indigenous Health Plan based on community input. This plan will align with Indigenous rights, treaties, and frameworks like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action.

Black Health

A Black pediatric patient hugs her mom. The patient wears braces on her legs and has a child-sized walker.

At McMaster Children’s Hospital (MCH), we’re implementing Black Health initiatives to address significant needs in Hamilton. This includes aligning our own EDI Plan with Ontario Health’s Black Health Plan. We’re collaborating with Black health leaders and connecting with Black communities to understand their unique health care needs, so that we can equip our health care providers to deliver safer, more equitable care. Our goal is to advance health promotion and disease prevention efforts within Black communities in Hamilton.

Improving access to care

In 2023-24 we successfully reduced diagnostic, surgical, and procedural wait times across several of our sites and programs. In fact, by the end of the year we were performing nearly as many surgeries as before the COVID-19 pandemic. This means patients get the diagnosis and treatment they need sooner, improving the likelihood of a successful outcome. For example:

More critical care beds

In 2023-24 HHS was grateful to receive funding from the provincial government to add seven critical care beds at our Hamilton General Hospital site. The beds enable HGH teams to help more patients requiring intensive care in the most appropriate setting, improving patient flow across the site including through the emergency department, which sees some of our region’s most serious medical cases.

Additional pediatric ICU care

Enabled by a historic investment by the provincial government, we added more beds in our pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at McMaster Children’s Hospital. These beds allowed us to provide critical care to more kids during the viral season, and to reduce the amount of time they spent in the emergency department waiting for a PICU bed to become available.

Medical imaging education

We partnered with St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Mohawk College, and McMaster University to open the Centre for Integrated and Advanced Medical Imaging (CIAMI) where education, clinical care, and research intersect to reduce diagnostic imaging wait times, advance best practices, and educate new generations of health care providers.

Celebrations

Cancer Care Recognition

Two leading-edge HHS cancer care programs were recognized at the 16th annual Quality and Innovation Awards. Both programs focus on having supportive conversations with patients or their children about cancer.

Cancer Coach celebrates 10 years

Our Mobile Cancer Screening Coach, a unique program offering free, mobile cancer screening and smoking cessation support on a 45-foot-long bus, celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2023. The coach routinely visits over 60 locations across Hamilton, Six Nations of the Grand River, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and beyond, increasing access to screening services.

50 years of NICU care

McMaster Children’s Hospital is home to the country’s largest neonatal intensive care unit. In 2023 it celebrated its 50th year of caring for our youngest, most fragile patients.

Supporting patients with pain for 50 years

Our Michael G. DeGroote Pain Clinic at McMaster University Medical Centre celebrated 50 years of supporting patients living with chronic pain. What began in 1973 as one of the first pain clinics in Canada has evolved into the largest academic, university-affiliated pain clinic in the country.

More MRIs, shorter wait times

At McMaster Children’s Hospital a new MRI machine and software has enabled our team to perform MRI imaging on 20 per cent more patients per day, meaning more kids can get the diagnosis and treatment they need sooner.

Thank you for continuing to make a vital difference.

Patients