Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Restorative Care Program Opens in Cornwall to Improve Care, Ease Pressures on Hospital
July 27, 2010 - St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre has opened eight new beds for clients from the Cornwall Community Hospital, who no longer need acute care and await an ‘alternate level of care’ (ALC).
The goal of the Restorative Care Program is to strengthen and condition patients to a degree of independence that will allow them to be discharged to the community (e.g. home, retirement residence). It is expected the program will prevent admissions to long-term care homes.
Clients in the program are medically stable, but have experienced a decline in their independent function due to progressive debilitation or physical deconditioning. They receive physiotherapy and occupational therapy, and also benefit from social activities and shared dining. The maximum length of stay is 90 days, after which clients are discharged to the community with support services in place.
“These patients really appreciate the opportunity to receive rehabilitation in a supportive setting,” says Bonnie Ruest, CEO of St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre. “When speaking to one of the first clients that arrived, the client was tearful when telling me how happy she was to have a chance to build her strength in effort to get home within the next few months.”
“The new transitional care program is certainly a welcome addition to health services in the Cornwall area,” says Jim Brownell, MPP for Stormont–Dundas–Glengarry. “We’re building a better health system that provides the right services at the right time and place.”
In addition to improving care, the initiative will free up some beds at Cornwall Community Hospital, which has lately cancelled surgeries due to a patient backlog. The Champlain LHIN supports the project through Aging at Home funds.
Source: Champlain Local Health Integration Network
Email: champlain@lhins.on.ca
Website: www.champlainlhin.on.ca
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