HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-10-22, Page 13THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1997. PAGE 13.
Clinton Public Hospital expands services
By David Emslie
Clinton News-Record
While it appeared just one year
ago that the future might be a bleak
one for Clinton Public Hospital
(CPH), it continues to expand its
services and prove itself a viable
facility.
Following in the footsteps of the
news that CPH would be offering
cataract surgery locally for the
residents of Huron County came
the announcement last week that
the hospital would be working in a
partnership to provide oxygen in
the home for the county's residents.
Clinton native Rick Gautreau, a
partner in Ontario Home Oxygen
and Respiratory Services Inc. of
Stratford, noted that plans to work
in a partnership with CPH to
provide oxygen to county residents
has been in the works for about five
months.
He said the company approached
the hospital this year about
initiating a partnership "to serve the
people of Huron County who have
chronic lung disease." He added
that the company is already
operating in partnerships with other
hospitals.
The oxygen, administered under
a doctor's prescription, will be
offered to those, Gautreau said,
suffering from Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Diseases, which include
emphysema, chronic bronchitis and
asthma. "We'll serve whoever
needs service," he said.
CPH Registered Nurse Susan
Armstrong, who will do the home
visits as part of the new program,
added that it will also provide air
compressors for children with
asthma. "When you get an air
compressor, you can usually
maintain children at home," she
said.
Under the Home Oxygen
Program being offered through
CPH, the company will provide
equipment and support, while
nurses will provide service to the
clients.
Gautreau noted that Ontario
Home Oxygen will provide same
day service, as soon as a doctor's
prescription is available, while the
service can also be available
through discharge planning and be
available upon a client's release
from the hospital.
With the equipment in place,
explained Armstrong, she will be
following up with the clients, and
doing monthly assessments. These
assessments will be reported to the
doctors in charge of the patients,
and to Gautreau.
Antje Troyan, co-ordinator of in
patient services for CPH, stressed
that the service, while based here,
has been set up to benefit all clients
in the county. "We're not going to
focus just in Clinton. There are
needs outside the community."
Gautreau added that Clinton was
chosen as a base for the service in
Huron County both due to its
PEOPLE WHO READ
NEWSPAPERS ARE
STUDENTS
WITH
BETTER
GRADES
central location, and due to his ties
to the town. The program, he
continued, will ensure that local
people are being looked after by
local people.
Troyan said that the new service
fits in with the focus of the
Ministry of Health to have more in-
home care, and community based
services.
"I think it's a step forward," she
said. "It certainly enhances
continuity and care."
With new technology, Gautreau
said, the days are gone when a
truck has to deliver large tanks of
oxygen to a client's home every
two days. In most cases, he said, a
machine is provided that takes the
oxygen out of the air, and provides
it for clients, and if tanks are still
ndcessary, they are much smaller.
With the changes in technology,
it also means that clients are not as
restricted in their activities as they
might once have been.
"Technology has come to the point
where there is very little people
can't do with it," Gautreau said.
"We try to be as unobtrusive as
possible."
While the service will be
unobtrusive, clients can be assured
that any service they need will be
provided when it is needed, as the
company has someone on call 24
hours a day.
Clients will also be receiving
professional service, Gautreau said,
as "we only use registered health
care professional registered nurses
or registered respiratory therapists
(RRTs)."
Gautreau, himself an RRT,
brings much experience to the new
partnership. Prior to his experience
Will there be quality health care
when you need it?
new ways of providing health care and building
partnerships to provide care in the community.
And we believe we can maintain the quality of
health care on one crucial condition: that we
don’t move too far, too fast. Community services
must be in place so you can continue to receive
the care you need.
The Hospitals of Ontario know what it
means to make changes. We’ve been leaders of
change for years. But change that moves too
quickly without making sure every piece of the
puzzle is in place is not the answer. And above
all, we want to make sure your health care system
is there for you when you need it.
Want to know more about how hospitals are changing?
Call us for a free information booklet and get involved in the future of your health care.
1-888-628-5888
Or visit our website at: www.oha.com
All of us in Ontario are concerned about the
future of our health care. What we really want to
know is, if I get sick, will there be a health care
system in place to look after me and my family?
And where and how will we get that care?
The Hospitals of Ontario are working hard
to do what we have always done: deliver high
quality health care. Today, new discoveries, new
drugs and new technologies mean we can deliver
care in many different ways. What used to mean
a two-week hospital stay now takes just one or
two days. And many treatments can now be
provided outside of hospitals.
So the Hospitals of Ontario are developing
with Ontario Home Oxygen he was
the Director of Cardio/Respiratory
Services at Stratford General
Hospital. Before working at the
hospital, he was clinical educator in
respiratory therapy.
Armstrong will also be bringing
years of experience to the new
partnership, as she has been in the
nursing profession since 1984
working with CPH, and doing
much work with the Hospital in the
Home program, and community
based nursing.
The hospital switchboard has the
necessary forms for those who are
to enter the program and once
contacted, the hospital will contact
Ontario Home Oxygen to begin
service. The service will be offered
on a 24-hour basis Troyan said.
"There is a continuum. It doesn't
stop at 9 o'clock."
While the program is now ready
to begin in Clinton, as Gautreau
said, "we have told the Clinton
doctors we're ready to go," there
will be much work ahead in the
months to come as presentations
will be made to nursing homes, the
Community Care Access Centre
and doctors across the county.
"We'll talk to anyone who will
listen, Gautreau said, later adding,
"Hopefully by Christmas we will
have gotten to everybody in Huron
County."
The program, Troyan said, will
provide some added revenue for
CPH and at the same time,
Gautreau noted, "...it is also adding
another service to Clinton."
Troyan added that while revenue
is important, the addition of local
services is more important. "We
want to be viable."
The Hospitals of Ontario
It all starts with Newspapers