RICHMOND HILL, ON –York Central Hospital is committed to providing the best possible birthing experience for every mother and family. As we move forward with the development of the Major Regional Health System and the building of a new hospital in Vaughan, York Central Hospital is determined to improve the quality of its birthing services.
Yesterday, the hospital kicked off a 100-day quality improvement action plan in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, part of the Woman and Child Program. Guided by an external quality review, the hospital identified opportunities to improve the patient experience in the Obstetrics area, and build a high performance team committed to excellence, as well as implement best practice standards. By addressing each of these opportunities through the action plan, the hospital is committed to consistently providing high quality care to each mother and family. This will promote and support a team-based approach to excellence in patient care.
Team Engagement Key to Success
Engaging staff, physicians and midwives is crucial to making this change successful. Ensuring that every team member is highly trained, willing and able to provide the best patient care possible and working together effectively, the team will make great strides in improving the patient care experience. Consistently following best practices for each patient and every birth will ensure that all team members provide high quality care for all patients and families.
As part of this initiative, the hospital will be adopting the MORE(OB) (Managing Obstetrical Risk Efficiently) Program. MORE (OB) is a comprehensive, patient safety, professional development, and performance improvement program for caregivers and management in hospital obstetrics units. The program integrates professional practice standards and guidelines with current and evolving patient safety concepts, principles and tools.
The 100-day quality improvement action plan is supported by an interdisciplinary steering committee. The hospital will also be investing in on-site Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology to oversee the enhancement and sustainability of medical best practices.
York Central Hospital is taking these steps as a demonstration of its ongoing commitment to patient care excellence, transparency and accountability. With this investment in enhanced leadership and staff engagement, we are confident that we will see measurable improvements in patient outcomes, and patient, staff and physician satisfaction.
Quotes
“Over the last few years the Woman and Child Program has taken significant steps to improve both the quality of care and patient satisfaction, but we know more can be done to further improve,” says Dr. Eric Fonberg, the Hospital’s Chief of Staff.
“We are committing to ensuring that all staff and physicians are on the same page when providing care,” adds Jo-anne Marr the Hospital’s Vice President of Patient Services and Chief Nursing Executive. “We are raising the bar and expect every staff member, physician and midwife to provide the same consistently excellent care to each and every patient.”
“We are making these changes for the benefit of our patients and families,” says Dr. Stanley Herman, Interim Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology. “Although we know change is difficult, we have every confidence that this is right for our patients and our community and we are confident that our team will embrace the changes.”
Quick Facts
- A 506-bed hospital located in one of Canada’s fastest growing communities
- In 2009, a major expansion of the Hospital’s Trench Street site in Richmond Hill, included a new Family Birthing Centre with 6 state-of-the-art Birthing Suites, 4 Triage Bays, 2 Operating Rooms and Recovery Room
- In December of 2010, the hospital opened its new state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care unit to care for its smallest patients.
- In 2011, York Central Hospital welcomed more than 2500 babies
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