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A Whitehorse resident says gaps in the hospital system are affecting continuity of care \u2013 and he has 2,000 pages of documentation to prove it.<\/p>\n
Craig Brown first visited the Whitehorse emergency room last year with serious symptoms, and says he ran into problems almost immediately.<\/p>\n
“I was wrongly diagnosed out of emergency as being chronic alcoholic,\u201d said Brown.<\/p>\n
After seeing the label of chronic alcoholic on his discharge papers, Brown corrected the error and started requesting all of his own documents. Nearly one year and 100-plus medical appointments later, he has collected multiple binders full of patient records.<\/p>\n
Brown said the documents don\u2019t lead to a definitive diagnosis, but illustrate systemic gaps. He believes those gaps have delayed his care.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s very easy to see in the paperwork where delays happen,\u201d Brown said. \u201cCommunications don’t happen in a timely manner. And no explanations, when asked by the patients, are given.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown said his medical documents, obtained from the Whitehorse hospital and outside clinics, are often incomplete or have the wrong information. There are gaps in communication. He learned from his own records that his blood work results were labeled as “critical.” One medical record, faxed from the hospital to his doctor, was missing multiple pages.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLike, where\u2019s the accountability?\u201d Brown said. \u201cI\u2019ve had a full life \u2013 so in that regard, what will be, will be \u2013 but it\u2019s a shame to see the medical system treating patients the way they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lack of information flow between hospitals and clinics is a noted problem that\u2019s been discussed internally between his department, the Yukon Medical Association and the Yukon Hospital Corporation, said Health Minister Brad Cathers in a phone interview.<\/p>\n
Cathers said different service providers are using different computer systems, which don\u2019t interface with each other. A planned territory-wide rollout of 1Health, an electronic platform for medical documents, wasn\u2019t actually implemented across hospitals and community clinics as planned.<\/p>\n
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Yukon Health Minister Brad Cathers says the government is adding beds to Whitehorse General Hospital and looking at ways to improve patient records. (Cheryl Kawaja\/CBC)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Yukon system is largely dependent on paper systems, still, and that poses a problem sometimes,\u201d Cathers said, adding that a technology upgrade and system overhaul is needed to fix the problem. He said a consultant is being hired to find a solution.<\/p>\n
Brown said communication gaps aren\u2019t the only issues he\u2019s seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Health care settings seem understaffed, he said, and he\u2019s been repeatedly rushed through follow-up appointments with physicians who seem too hurried to look carefully at his test results. During longer hospital stays, he noticed health-care workers seemed \u201cunder a lot of pressure.”<\/p>\n
Whitehorse hospital tagged for expansion<\/p>\n
The Whitehorse hospital has been widely reported as suffering from capacity issues in recent years. Cathers says the hospital is at 100 per cent capacity most of the time and major upgrades are overdue. Population growth trajectories signify that demand is only going to increase.<\/p>\n
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The emergency department at Whitehorse General Hospital. The Yukon Hospital Corporation says it’s adding new nursing positions at the territory’s hospitals and health centres. (Claudiane Samson\/Radio-Canada)<\/p>\n