Alberta Health Services (AHS) has created a new continuing care resolution team to ensure patients and families receive appropriate and timely continuing care placement and care, say officials.
The team will report directly to Vickie Kaminski, CEO of AHS, and will be led by Nancy Guebert and Isabel Henderson, who are both experienced health care clinicians, according to a recent AHS press release.
The leaders and their team will work to resolve issues in public and privately-operated continuing care facilities, and since opening up phone lines on July 7, the team has received 55 inquiries and resolved 21 of those so far.
“The team (is working) directly with patients and their families to ensure that patients receive the care they need in a location best suited to their needs and individual circumstances,” said Kaminski.
“These transitions to continuing care are often complex, and the team's approach will be to ensure patients and their families are front and centre in any decisions around placement and care.”
Health Minister Fred Horne has come out in support of Kaminski taking the lead to resolve and prioritize resident and family issues in continuing care.
“Thousands of residents and families receive excellent care every day, but we must do better. Residents must always come first,” said Horne.
As part of the initiative, AHS created a continuing care concerns phone line and email account that will serve as a central point of intake for Albertans with unresolved continuing care concerns.
The phone number (1-844-468-2930) and email account ([email protected]) will help Albertans connect with the necessary resources and experts to provide guidance and resolution to placement or care concerns.
AHS is also launching a new front-line education and awareness program to ensure staff has the resources and flexibility they need to help patients transition to continuing care.
The education and awareness program will focus on new internal processes related to placing patients in appropriate beds, and ensure that best-practice, patient-centered care is at the core of all decisions.
“Our front-line teams across the province do an incredible job,” said Kaminski. “We do know that there are cases where patients or families have specific needs or concerns that we must work together to address.
“The goal of all these initiatives is to ensure that patients, families and staff have access to senior AHS leaders and resources to make sure the best possible care decisions are made collaboratively.”
The leads of the continuing care resolution team are also working with the Seniors and Health Advocate to coordinate response and actions to concerns.
