Strathroy Measures Up on Wait Times

Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital (SMGH), a partner in the Middlesex Hospital Alliance (MHA), offers three of the five services monitored by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) Wait Times Strategy. And the results, compared with other hospitals monitored, are very impressive.

"We provide Cataract surgery, Hip and Knee replacement surgery and CT Scans - all of which are monitored by the MOHLTC. If you visit the provincial web site, you can see how well SMGH compares with other hospitals in the province. For instance, for the period from March through May this year we were better than the provincial average and better than provincial targets for all of the procedures we perform," Nancy Maltby-Webster, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at MHA, says.

The Wait Times strategy of the MOHLTC targets five major health services. The strategy is designed to increase access and reduce wait times for these services, including significantly increasing the number of procedures to reduce the backlog that has developed over the last decade. According to the Ministry, patients can use the Wait Times information reported on the Ministry web site system "to make informed choices about where to be referred for quicker service." Wait times are measured in two ways: for surgical wait times, the Ministry tracks the time between when a surgery is ordered and when it is performed, and for diagnostic scans, such as CT Scans, the time between when a diagnostic scan is ordered and when it is completed, is tracked.

"We support the Ministry's Wait Time strategy," Mike Mazza, CEO of the Middlesex Hospital Alliance, says, "It improves access to the targeted services, it allows patients to evaluate the centres that provide those services and it allows us to benchmark our performance."

One of these targeted services is hip and knee replacement surgery. The MHA Hips & Knees Program began in fall, 2006 at the Strathroy site of MHA with services provided by visiting surgeons. The program was "ramped up" when Dr. Samer Hanna, MD, FRCSC, joined Strathroy as an Orthopaedic Surgeon last summer from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, where he trained under Dr. Allan Gross, a leading orthopaedic surgeon in the province. "Having Dr. Hanna on staff at MHA allows us to deliver our Hip & Knee Joint Replacement Program even more efficiently," Mazza says.

Since his arrival at the MHA, Dr. Hanna has developed an active orthopaedic practice with a focus on hips and knees. "My practice is busy - but we are certainly keeping up with it. I do about 20 joints a month, and 75 percent of those are knees. The Hips & Knees Program at Strathroy is still a young program and I would like to see it continue to expand. It's a great place to work," Dr. Hanna says.

"The most common reason for having a hip or knee replaced is osteoarthritis," Dr. Hanna says. This is a degenerative joint disease, marked by the breakdown of the joint's cartilage. It most commonly affects people as they get older and can cause pain and a reduced quality of life. A joint replacement is aimed at helping people live fuller, more active lives. To replace a total hip or knee joint, a surgeon removes the diseased or damaged parts and inserts artificial parts, called prostheses or implants.

Already the MHA Hips & Knees Program has received some well-earned praise for wait times and for patient satisfaction. For instance, the first 150 hip and knee patients were interviewed at two and then at six weeks after their surgeries. They were questioned about pain, mobility and overall satisfaction with the experience. More than 90 per cent of patients reported an "excellent" experience.

"The MHA Hip & Knee Program's success relies on a team approach," Dr. Hanna says. "Our team is excellent. The MHA Physiotherapy and Nursing staff, along with external partners prepare patients pre-operatively. We can do five joint replacements in a day, which speaks volumes about the efficiency and commitment of our team members."

"Eighty-seven per cent of our Hip & Knee patients meet discharge expectations, which generally means they return home after a shorter than average hospital stay, with pain managed and on target with their mobility," Maltby-Webster, COO says, "We are extremely proud of this program and everyone involved in its success".

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Strathroy Measures Up on Wait Times