Brampton Civic Hospital apologizes for cutting in wrong leg

The chief of staff at Brampton’s criticized Civic Hospital has now officially apologized to the 72-year-old Amar Kaur Brar, whose wrong leg got cut by a surgeon, her family says.

The doctor, who sliced open Amar Kaur Brar’s right leg when he should have cut into her left, has also expressed his regret.
The apologies came after the family filed a formal complaint with the Brampton Civic Hospital ombudsman over the incident.
Her 21-year-old granddaughter Kanwaljot Brar said it has left her formerly agile grandmother in serious pain and handicapped as she now has to recover from incisions on both legs, on top of a broken bone.

“Before the complaint they didn’t apologize. Now they have apologized,” she said. “They do the mistake and after they say sorry. That’s not good.”

A spokesperson at Brampton Civic was unable to confirm yesterday whether these verbal regrets were issued.
Despite requesting a new physician, Amar Kaur Brar was today back under the care of the surgeon who performed the procedure.

"The reduced holiday staffing levels at Brampton Civic made it impossible to have another doctor on the job," Kanwaljot Brar said.
“He’s taking care of her, but after the vacation is over another doctor will be given to her,”

The alleged mistake is the latest in a string of controversies that put Brampton Civic under fire since it opened its doors amid much fanfare last October.

Two patients have died and their families believe it was due to complications caused by long waits for proper care.
In November, Harnek Sindu, 52, perished of pancreatitis 10 days after waiting 12 hours for a bed when he presented with abdominal pain and only last month it was Amerjit Narwal, 42, who succumbed to a stroke.

Calling the two deaths “unacceptable,” Health Minister George Smitherman last week appointed a supervisor to assume control of William Osler Health Centre, the hospital network responsible for Brampton Civic.
A citizen’s group, billing itself as Bramptonians for Better Health Care, held a thousand-person protest last month and is now organizing a petition calling for more funding, better staffing levels and the opening of more beds at a hospital serving one of Canada’s fastest growing communities.

Group spokesman Rajinder Saini, who is also editor of Parvasi Weekly, called the latest incident “unbelievable.”
“It’s tragic, there is outrage in the community. They are losing confidence in the hospital.”

While the apologies were appreciated, Ms. Brar said they come as cold comfort to her grandmother, who arrived in Canada from India last summer and now remains hospitalized.

“She just started crying,” reported her granddaughter.
Mrs. Kaur Brar slipped and fell on the stairs on Christmas day, fracturing her left leg.

Related articles:

Brampton Civic Hospital operates on wrong leg

Brampton Civic hospital has cost $340 million more than planned

Brampton Civic Hospital under fire

Supervisor appointed in Brampton Civic Hospital

Ken White, former CEO at Trillium Health Centre in Mississauga, will at least spend the next six to nine months, coming up with an action plan to improve communication between the hospital and the community, ensure proper staffing and reduce wait times in the emergency ward.

Amid reports that a patient had the wrong leg operated on at Brampton Civic, Ontario's first public-private hospital, Health Minister George Smitherman has named the supervisor who will look into problems at the new facility.

"People in the community should expect more answers to the questions raised ... What we see here is evidence of the need to do better," Smitherman told a press conference at the Brampton site of the William Osler Health Centre yesterday.

Smitherman took the rare step of appointing a supervisor to restore public confidence in Brampton Civic after the deaths of Harnek Sidhu, 52, of pancreatitis and Amarjit Narwal, 42, of a stroke, sparked a huge community protest in early December.

Then, on Christmas Day, 72-year-old Amar Kaur Brar complained doctors cut open her right leg by mistake when she went to hospital for surgery on her fractured left leg.

Although he had been an investigator at Brampton Civic for about a year, helping it to ramp up to its opening on October 28th, White said he was "not at all familiar" with concerns raised by the community about a shortage of staff, unduly long waits in emergency and a lack of beds.

"It's very sad there's all kinds of these misadventures in health care happening across Canada," White told reporters in an interview after the press conference.

Smitherman blamed "mischief makers" and alluded to persistent negative media reports about problems at the hospital since it opened as being a factor in attracting staff to work at the centre.

Some of those reports have been "pretty far off the mark," he said.

Brampton Civic, which replaced Peel Memorial Hospital, "overnight gained 100 beds, which is unheard of in health care" today, said Smitherman.
However, he did acknowledge staffing challenges.

Source: The Star

This is a video from CBC News concerning the appointment of Ken White

Related Articles:

Brampton Civic Hospital operates on wrong leg

Brampton Civic hospital has cost $340 million more than planned

Brampton Civic Hospital under fire

Political Action Award 2007 for two Mississauga nurses

Two Mississauga nurses, whose efforts helped bring about an increase in the food allotment for residents of Ontario's seniors' homes, have won an award for their efforts.
They have been friends since attending Credit Valley School of Nursing together more than three decades ago.

When they began speaking to their congregation at St. Christopher parish last April, Curitti and Shaw had no idea of the campaign they'd soon be embarking upon: collecting thousands of signatures on petitions, visiting Queen’s Park, enlisting the assistance of the RNAO and the Dietitians of Canada and, ultimately, changing the policy of the provincial government.

While those advocacy groups had been trying to get the $5.46 daily, per resident, allowance hiked for several years, the homegrown campaign started by the nurses in the run-up to the provincial election struck a chord with the public, and politicians.

In August, Health Minister George Smitherman announced he was allocating $23.1 million to increase the daily "raw food allowance" to $7 per day.
That covers the costs of three meals (with two choices at each one), three snacks and all beverages.
When Shaw and Curitti, who are co-chairs of the family council at Cawthra Gardens long-term care facility, spoke to managers of seniors' homes, they found many were struggling to provide the required nutrition within the budget limitations.

The fact that the allowance is raised will be making a big difference to the quality of life of senior residents.”
Linda Dietrich, regional director for the Dietitians of Canada, told The News the nurses' efforts are very much appreciated.
“I think their work has been significant to help persuade the government to take the action they did.”

Angela Shaw and Julie Curitti will receive the Political Action Award for 2007 from the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), at Queen's Park on January 24th.

Source: The Mississauga News

Hamilton's Henderson General Hospital being redeveloped

Yesterday, Hamilton Health Sciences and Infrastructure Ontario has announced they signed a contract with EllisDon to build and finance the redevelopment of the Henderson General Hospital.

The total project at Henderson General Hospital consists of approximately 400,000 square feet of new construction and more than 25,000 square feet of renovation.

The expansion will result in enhanced general hospital services, including a full-range of acute inpatient and ambulatory services supporting cancer care and patients from the Juravinski Cancer Centre.
It will include additional oncology and critical care beds and more capacity in emergency services, surgery, diagnostic services, outpatient clinics and support areas.

"A tremendous milestone has been reached today - a milestone that paves the way for improved access to health care in Hamilton," said Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal David Caplan.
"The final contract is signed, demonstrating that the McGuinty government has delivered on its commitment to this community."

"Projects like the redevelopment of the Henderson site are an essential part of our government's plan to renew hospitals and lower emergency room wait times in the local community and across the province," commented Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, George Smitherman.

"Once complete, this redeveloped hospital will improve access to important health services so that Hamilton residents will get the care they need, when they need it."

The deal commits EllisDon to build and finance the hospital expansion and redevelopment project for $198.1 million.
The estimated total cost of this redevelopment project has been approved by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care at $259.2 million.
This includes the hospital's early works demolition project for 70 Wing South, the fixed construction contract with EllisDon as well as other estimated costs related to the project such as furniture, equipment, permits, architectural and engineering fees and transaction and project management fees.

"This brings us one step closer to providing the residents of Hamilton with an expanded Henderson General Hospital," said MPP Hamilton Mountain, Sophia Aggelonitis.

"This major redevelopment project will enable Henderson General Hospital to continue to provide this excellent health care for years to come."

"We appreciate the government's continued commitment and support of the redevelopment of the Henderson General Hospital," said Murray Martin, President and Chief Operating Officer, Hamilton Health Sciences.

"Our patients, staff and community will benefit from having a modern facility designed to meet the growing health care needs in our region."

Editor's opinion:

"Let us please keep an eye on the total costs spent afterwards and see if this is not going to be another 'Brampton case'"

Humber River Regional highest death rate, not Scarborough General

On orders from the provincial health ministry, Humber River Regional Hospital quietly released the worst death rate of any Toronto-area hospital.

On Monday, more than a week after the Canadian Institute for Health Information published a high-profile report containing death rates for hospitals across Canada, Humber broke its silence to report a rate of 136, meaning its in-hospital death rate was 36 points above the national average of 100.

Humber's rate is the second worst in Canada. Only Kitchener's Grand River Hospital fared worse, with a rate of 142.

The release of Humber's data also boosts Scarborough General Hospital to second worst in the GTA; its death rate was 134.

Humber's figures were omitted from the CIHI report because hospital officials insisted data inconsistencies had skewed the numbers. Hospital officials ultimately released the numbers in a brief statement on a media wire service. Calls to three Humber representatives were not returned yesterday.

The disclosure came at the insistence of the provincial government.

On Dec. 4, Health Minister George Smitherman told the Legislature that Humber would release its numbers in one week.

"My office has been in touch with Humber River Regional Hospital. In the interests of transparency, I'm pleased to tell the House that they'll be releasing their data within a week," he said in response to a question from Laura Albanese, MPP for York South-Weston.

"By next year, our government will have passed a regulation that would require all hospitals to report this data, without exemption, to ensure this information continues to drive much-needed improvements in patient safety."

Humber cited a "misunderstanding" in the data related to end-of-life care (palliative and "do not resuscitate" cases) as the reason for its numbers not being publicly released as part of the CIHI press conference Nov. 29.

Mortality rates for 85 large, Canadian, acute-care hospitals and 42 health regions, except Quebec, were released at the news conference for the first time.

"The coding discrepancies were serious enough that to release the (data) presented in the preliminary report would be misleading," the hospital said in a statement.

It said they "embrace the concept that patients deserve transparency and accountability from public institutions" and that the latest numbers show they are "producing significant improvement" in data quality.

However, CIHI told the Star yesterday Humber's rate of 136 is the same as in its original calculations.

The non-profit CIHI uses the hospital standardized mortality ratio, which looks at 65 illnesses that account for 80 per cent of in-hospital deaths, to prepare its report. Anything below 100 is better than average, anything above is worse.

The figures exclude patients in palliative care.

All the numbers crunched by CIHI were sent to the hospitals in early autumn so they could be checked, said CIHI's Christina Lawand.

Grand River officials also say their ranking is misleading. "As a consequence of incorrectly filed data sent to CIHI, over 32 percent of the mortalities included in the Grand River Hospital's ranking should not have been counted because they were in fact palliative care patients being provided end-of-life comfort, not curative, care," said Nancy Hewat, Grand River's executive director of foundation and public affairs.

In Toronto, the University Health Network had the best overall rate, 87, for its three-hospital system. The now-closed Peel Memorial Hospital also had a low rate, 81.

For years, Canadian hospital administrators have known the death rates inside their hospitals but they were never publicized. The disclosure followed a year-long Toronto Star investigation into medical secrecy that examined the lack of information available to patients. As part of the series, the Star urged the public reporting of death rates.

Humber was created in 1997 by the merger of Humber Memorial, Northwestern General and York-Finch General Hospital. It sees about 365,000 outpatients each year and has 100,000 emergency visits, according to its website.

Smitherman told the Legislature his government sees transparency as something that is "powerful and beneficial to our patients."

He also announced that by the beginning of April it will require all hospitals involved in Ontario's Wait Time Strategy to report infection rates in three areas.

And, by the end of July, it will introduce a regulation requiring all provincial hospitals to inform patients about medical errors.
The Star

Editor's opinion:

"I was kind of expecting this when Humber River General was reported to be the only hospital that hadn't submitted the numbers yet (read related article).

That to me, was really suspicious!"

Related article:

Scarborough General Hospital highest death rate in the GTA

Victorian Order of Nurses to be made redundant

After 110 years of service to the community, the Victorian Order of Nurses were told Tuesday they were disqualified from the tendering process that will decide home care nursing services in the Hamilton region without further reasons.

About 100 VON nursing and administrative staff will be without a job next April, many after lengthy careers delivering home care to patients in the Hamilton region.
VON Hamilton recently was given the Hamilton Spectator Gold Reader's Choice Award in the home healthcare category.

VON is the second agency to find out its services were no longer wanted this week.
On Monday St. Joseph's Home Care was told they were similarly disqualified.
Together, the two largest not-for-profit agencies in the region provide about 80 percent of home nursing care in the region.

"Health minister George Smitherman has delivered a lump of coal into the stocking of almost every home care nurse and patient in the Hamilton area," says Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) which represents the VON workers.

Hamilton home care patients will likely experience disruption to their care during the changeover. In Niagara, where the VON lost the home care contract in 2004, winning agencies struggled to hire enough staff, leaving many patients in a precarious position.

The agencies are among the first in the province to lose home care work as the three-year moratorium on competitive bidding was lifted this fall.

VON workers were told the news at a meeting Wednesday morning.

Luckily, there is also good news.
Recently, VON has been awarded a contract, with Department of Veteran Affairs (VAC), to provide nursing assessment and nursing advisory services on an as needed basis for the province of Saskatchewan.

The five-year contract will begin with the training of VON nurses.
VON will conduct nursing assessment services for VAC clients in their homes or the facilities in which the clients reside.

They will also provide advice on a wide variety of nursing issues related to the care of adult and older clients including mini-mental status, levels of depression, pain and possible placement issues and will prepare reports on the health status and medical needs of the client, which will be submitted to the VAC for review and action.

Source: VON and Marketwire

Editor's opinion:

"How's that for a Christmas present?
Who's going to take care of these poor nurses now?
Unbelievable that it's possible in Canada to be just laid off without further notice!
When you're always taking care of others, it must be hard to believe that the government is not taking care of you and totally disregards the quality award you just deserved."

Ontario physicians best paid

Ontario is even more competitive in physician compensation than figures reported today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) said Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care George Smitherman.

Today, CIHI released Physicians in Canada: Average Gross Fee-for-Service Payments which covers the 2005/06 year. (download the report here)

"We are headed in the right direction in making Ontario an employer of choice in health care," said Smitherman.
"I look forward to building on this success with our doctors so that an additional 500,000 Ontarians can benefit from family health care."

Since the year that the report captures, the ministry has invested a further $652 million for physicians that includes incentives to enroll more patients and to treat people with chronic diseases.
Beginning in 2008, an additional $364 million will flow to doctors in recognition of the important care they provide to patients. Total investments in this deal will total $1.3 billion annually in physician services.
By working together, the McGuinty government and Ontario's doctors have been able to increase the number of Ontarians with access to a family doctor. Based on independent survey data and data from Statistics Canada, the number of Ontarians with regular access to a family doctor has increased by 500,000.

The additional $652 million of funds dedicated to doctors is being used as follows:

• $285 million to provide Ontarians access to family health care;
• $290 million for better hospital care in areas such as emergency rooms and palliative care;
• $77 million for other areas such as chronic disease management, psychiatry and surgical services.

More info: http://www.health.gov.on.ca

source: CNW Group

Brampton Civic hospital has cost $340 million more than planned

William Osler Health Centre's CEO Bob Richards and Hilary Short, head of the Ontario Hospital Association, have publicly stated that the public-private partnership (P3) funding model used to construct the Brampton Civic Hospital has no impact on patient care.
Government documents detailing this deal, only obtained after a four-year court battle, show otherwise.

These documents revealed that this hospital has cost $340 million more because of the P3 financial model.
That much money could have built another badly needed new hospital in the city would have provided all of the promised 608 beds in the new hospital.

"The people of Brampton know that they are not getting adequate health care, and they also know that our P3 hospital has cost more and delivered less," said Dora Jeffries, Chair of Ontario Health, who wrote a letter to the The Star.

Although she is not from the Asian community herself, she did attend the weekend rally in Brampton protesting the inadequate health-care services in the city.
Many residents of Brampton from all communities have been deeply concerned about this problem for several years.

"We have many questions and we are not getting straight answers. Why do we have less than one hospital bed per 1,000 people in Brampton, while the rest of Canada has nearly three beds per 1,000? Why did our hospital cost more than $880 million, and promise 608 beds and only deliver 479?"

The protest last weekend was also about people, mainly Indo-Canadians, demanding Health Minister George Smitherman to reopen Peel Memorial Hospital. Residents have complained about the service they have received at Brampton Civic Hospital, Peel Memorial's replacement.

Peel Memorial is slated to be renovated and reopened in about two years. However, the community asked at the rally that the opening date be moved up.

The rally was originally meant to end up at Brampton Civic but there was a concern the disruption could compromise patients' health care.

Star, CTV

Editor's opinion:

"Isn't it time for some real CEO's, coming from real businesses, where they are really held accountable for spendings, to take over the steering wheel from the Bob Richards' in health care?"

Related article:

Brampton Civic Hospital under fire