In his January 2019 Interim Report, Dr. Rueben Devlin, the\nChair of the Premier\u2019s Council on Improving Healthcare, noted the impressive\ndedication of health care professionals but also expressed his concerns about\novercrowding, wait times, equitable access to services, difficulties navigating\nthe health care system, system capacity, technology and innovation and efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve recently experienced Ontario\u2019s health care system locally and in the downtown Toronto hospitals, and this is how my experience compared to Dr. Devlin\u2019s observations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First and foremost, I have to express my profound\nappreciation to all the people involved in my care. Without exception, the\ncleaning staff, support workers, nurses, physicians and specialists were\nprofessional, caring, compassionate, patient, friendly and supportive. Dr.\nDevlin is right to be impressed by these people, and whatever change is made to\nthe health care system needs to respect their dedication and professionalism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After several delays and the prospect of a long wait time for\nan MRI at my local hospital, I was able to connect UHN with my doctor and get\nan MRI in a week. The MRI did take place on a Monday at 4:00 AM but by that\npoint I was willing to go anywhere at any time to get it done. This was my\nfirst exposure to the differences between local and \u2018downtown Toronto\u2019 service\nlevels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My second experience was the Emergency Department at Toronto\nWestern. Again, great staff but the wait to be seen is interminable. Even when\nyou know their need is greater than yours, it\u2019s discouraging to see the\nambulances roll in and know that you\u2019re going to be bumped down the list by the\nnew arrivals. A little more frustrating are those who use the ED for minor\ncomplaints and an immediate response. The homeless, mentally ill and addicted\nare people with their own special problems and needs that the health care\nsystem must take care of. Not an easy job being a downtown hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next, I encountered the dreaded hallway medicine. In fact,\none of my bed spaces was labelled Hallway 1. Noisy, undignified and totally\nlacking in privacy. Not to mention how short and narrow those damn emergency\nbeds are! On the other hand \u2013 the people! The nurse who brought me a heated\nblanket at 3:00 AM. The four doctors who stood in the hallway beside my bed\nconferring on the best course of treatment and discussing it with me in an\nopen, compassionate and understandable way. The chatty orderly who wrapped me\nup and wheeled me to my room. This was a recurring theme in my experience \u2013 a\nchallenging environment more than compensated for the quality of care and\ncaring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once admitted, things progressed quickly and efficiently. A\npleasant room, attentive nursing staff, a visit from a therapy dog and doctors\ncoming by to educate me on what was coming up. The OR, recovery room, discharge\nand the second visit to the OR taught me simple lessons. First, avoid going to\nthe hospital over the holidays and at the peak of flu season. As one nurse\nexplained to me, hospitals are like a bathtub full to the brim at the best of\ntimes. Throw in a bunch more people and its water overflowing everywhere.\nSecond, don\u2019t even think about rest and sleep. Third, try to relax and let the\ngood people take care of you. They will!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My transfer from Western through my local LHIN to the care\nof St. Elizabeth Healthcare was seamless. Again, the professionalism and the\ntimeliness of care were impressive. At the same time, I was being treated by\nthe wonderful people at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. While the waiting\nrooms were full and the delays frequent, the doctors routinely stayed until\nlate in the day to make sure that everyone was seen. Various tests, scans and\nprocedures were scheduled with amazing efficiency. The upbeat, punctual and\nfriendly care provided by the radiation treatment staff was astounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what did I learn? First, it\u2019s all about the people.\nAmazing people doing a terrific job in challenging circumstances. Secondly,\ncapacity and geographic inequity are huge issues. The downtown hospitals\ndefinitely have the advantage in advanced care practices but pay the price in\nthe relentless pressure of people seeking relief from their pain and suffering.\nThirdly, communication between professionals is an issue. While cell phones are\nnow ubiquitous, there were a number of times when clinicians just didn\u2019t seem\nto be talking to each other. On the other hand, the patient portal was\nfantastic. A constant stream of emails to alert me to the time, location and\nreason for my appointments. The speed with which results were known and\ncommunicated was amazing. The array of medical technology available to diagnose\nand treat illness is absolutely overwhelming. While none of us likes to pay\ntaxes, I can\u2019t begin to express my gratitude for the money that was invested in\nmedical technology. The ROI on my health care taxes far exceeds the return on\nmy financial investments.\n\nFinal thought. If you do get sick, the system\nworks. Sometimes slowly, sometimes inefficiently, sometimes confusingly but it\nworks. The health care people are there for you.\n\n\n\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In his January 2019 Interim Report, Dr. Rueben Devlin, the Chair of the Premier\u2019s Council on Improving Healthcare, noted the impressive dedication of health care professionals but also expressed his concerns about overcrowding, wait times, equitable access to services, difficulties navigating the health care system, system capacity, technology and innovation and efficiency. I\u2019ve recently experienced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":4726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[26,27,28,29],"class_list":["post-4722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-osborne-insights-blog","tag-canada","tag-healthcare","tag-service","tag-toronto"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n