A seniors-friendly emergency department at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital is at the centre of the hospital district’s winter fundraising campaign.
The Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation is seeking to raise $2.3 million over the season, split between an emergency department area designated for seniors, which will take $1.2 million; a Nanaimo Health Centre Ambulatory Care Clinic for wound and outpatient care, for $600,000; and $500,000 in support of the new Parksville Treatment Centre for mental health and addictions recovery.
Barney Ellis-Perry, foundation CEO, said the seniors emergency room project involves renovating an existing part of the emergency department to be tailored specifically for seniors, who make up for 35 per cent of ER patients in Nanaimo.
“When the current emergency building was built in 2013 they built two pods, and we actually only use one, so the emergency most [people] know about is only one of two, the other one has always been used as overflow,” he said. “That other one will now be for seniors specifically.”
In seniors emergency, lighting will be dimmed, sound will be dampened and staff will be trained in geriatrics, with accessible specialized equipment at the ready.
With patients potentially waiting up to days, Ellis-Perry said this will be a “game-changer” for senior patients.
“This is a more appropriate space for them to be waiting in, it is a more controlled environment for them,” he said. “So that will help, but there are no net new beds – so this will be a bit of shuffling act, in many ways.”
The project is spearheaded by Rebecca McGregor, NRGH clinical operations director, who previously worked as an emergency nurse.
“Over the years we’re really starting to see the impacts on people when they are in an area not designed for them,” McGregor said. “Using equipment that doesn’t necessarily work with people with severe frailty, in a busy, bright environment that contributes to increasing confusion and delirium rates.”
The $1.2 million will be divided between physical changes to the space and specialized equipment, which would include pressure-reducing beds, lift chairs and comfort carts for long stays.
“It’s really about changing the way we provide care and changing the physical environment in our existing emergency department…” she said. “When you have very frail elderly people who aren’t really able to mobilize all that well and they are spending great periods of time laying in bed, you want to make sure they have air-loss mattresses or special mattresses that decrease the incidents of bed sores or wounds. We need special stretchers for that, we need stretchers that can go quite low to the ground so people can get off of them.”
Design-wise, McGregor said there will be safety doors preventing patients from leaving the department or getting lost.
“We’re also coupling that with special education for the people providing care,” she said. “As an example, the hospital foundation has already paid for our emergency room physicians to undertake a geriatric emergency medicine course, because really, geriatrics is a speciality. So we’re looking at changing or increasing the amount of education that we’re providing to our care providers, ensuring our equipment we have is designed for our frail, elderly, aging population and recognizing the risk of the physical environment itself.”
The aim is to have the emergency wing ready to open in late summer or fall of next year, making it the first seniors-friendly emergency department in B.C.
Both the new Parksville Treatment Centre and the Nanaimo Health Centre Ambulatory Care Clinic also have target opening dates in 2026. The care clinic is planned to operate out of the Nanaimo Public Health Unit on Grant Avenue, offering support to patients with chronic diseases who seek medical care for wounds or to receive intravenous antibiotics for related infections, reducing strain on the hospital.
Donations can be made online at http://nanaimohospitalfoundation.com, by calling 250-755-7690, or visiting the foundation office inside the main Dufferin Crescent entrance of the hospital.
Corresponding with the winter fundraiser is the annual Light the Trees event, set for Nov. 28 at 5:30 p.m. The foundation has invited community members attend the lighting of the tree outside the hospital, listen to music by Harmony Nanaimo carollers and enjoy hot chocolate and a visit from Santa. NRGH’s pediatric department will be on hand to accept new toys for children staying at the hospital over the holidays.
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