Emergency departments in Mississauga and Brampton are among 26 across Ontario targeted by a new provincial initiative aimed at cutting wait times and easing pressure on hospitals.
The Ontario government announced Wednesday (Oct. 7) it is spending more than $47 million over four years to launch an Emergency Department Action Team (EDAT) that will work directly with selected hospitals to identify bottlenecks, improve patient flow and find ways to get people the care they need sooner.
Hospital sites in Mississauga and Brampton are included in the initiative, INSAUGA Canada has learned.
William Osler Health System’s Brampton Civic Hospital and Etobicoke General Hospital are part of the project, as are Trillium Health Partners’ Credit Valley Hospital and Mississauga Hospital.
The initiative comes as the province acknowledges that emergency departments are facing sustained pressure from increasing patient volumes, more serious and complex cases and growing demands on the health-care system.
EDAT will work with the selected hospitals to examine how patients move through the emergency department, from their initial assessment and diagnostic testing through admission or discharge.
The team will look for the factors contributing to delays, to streamline processes and getting patients through the system more efficiently.
The province says the 26 hospitals were selected based on factors including emergency department volumes and the potential for improvements to benefit the greatest number of patients. Operational and performance indicators, as well as representation across different hospital types and regions, were also considered.
The initiative builds on work carried out last fall at five emergency department sites operated by The Ottawa Hospital, Windsor Regional Hospital and Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre.
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That first phase identified operational, workforce and broader system-level factors contributing to delays in patient care, as well as changes that could help patients move more quickly through assessment, diagnostics, admission and discharge.
The province says those findings will now help guide the work at the 26 hospitals selected for the second phase.
For Mississauga and Brampton, that means four local hospital sites will be part of a closer examination of where delays occur and what can be changed to improve the flow of patients through their emergency departments.
The province says hospitals not directly participating in the second phase will also benefit from the initiative as tools, resources and lessons learned are shared across the health-care system.
The EDAT will be chaired by Dr. Abdel-Rahman Lawendy, an orthopedic surgeon and researcher based in London, Ontario.
“Improving access to timely emergency care remains a priority for Ontario’s health system,” Deputy Minister of Health Deborah Richardson and Ontario Health CEO Matthew Anderson said in a memorandum to hospital CEOs and board chairs.
They said emergency departments across the province continue to face pressure from increasing patient volumes, higher acuity and growing complexity of care needs.
The government says the new team will focus on practical changes that can improve patient flow and reduce delays.
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