Posted: July 7, 2021

A year of courage and partnerships: these experiences and accomplishments have shaped our past year and built resiliency and flexibility, strengthened partnerships and collaboration across the Waterloo Region community, and have forever changed the ways that we work separately, and together. While a look back at what has been accomplished during a particularly challenging time, we will use what we have learned in looking forward, and planning for the future of health care in Waterloo Region, together.

Every year, the Ministry of Health collects information and data to measure performance across emergency departments in Ontario. To do this, they look at a lot of information including how long patients wait for care, how long people wait in the emergency department before seeing a doctor and, if patients are sick enough, how long they may wait to be admitted to a bed in another area of the hospital.

In 2020, not only was Grand River Hospital able to reduce wait times in our emergency department compared to 2019, we also ranked better than the Ontario average on every measurement. In our ED, patients are provided with the care they need faster. For some, that means going home earlier – and for those who need to stay in hospital, they are moved to an inpatient bed sooner, thanks to the efforts of our emergency department and inpatient teams.

People from across the hospital are collaborating to make these changes possible:

  • Improved wait times: The emergency department team has significantly improved wait times for patients who arrive needing care or treatment, but are not facing a severe or life-threatening event. This has included efforts to streamline work that happens behind the scenes, and is particularly impressive because of the additional challenges the pandemic created for the emergency department, including the need for enhanced personal protective equipment measures, and accommodating physical distancing which reduced the space staff have to work in.
  • Faster care for stroke patients: Emergency, pharmacy, laboratory, medical imaging, and stroke teams have been working together to continue to improve our response to stroke patients. Our “code stroke” protocol allows teams to intervene quickly and together to diagnose and treat stroke patients as soon as possible, leading to better results for these patients. “Code stroke” which brings together a team of experts to care for potential stroke patients was introduced in the summer of 2019, and staff continue to refine, adapt and improve as the pandemic has changed the way we work.
  • Ensuring patients get the care and support they need to go home: Staff in the ED and inpatient programs are working together to better support patients when they go home to reduce the likelihood they will need to come back to the hospital for more care. As part of this work, a Geriatric Emergency Management (GEM) nurse from the emergency department visits with elderly patients who have been admitted and have been identified as patients with a high risk of returning to the hospital for more care. The GEM nurse will work to ensure that resources are in place to support a smooth transition home, and call the patient to follow up on them after they have been discharged. Collaborative team efforts like this enhance patient experiences and the care we provide while ensuring that beds and resources are available for those who need them most, when they need them.

These improvements are a direct result of the dedication of GRH staff and physicians who are committed to improving performance and patient experience. The ED team is already working on a number of other initiatives continue to reduce wait times, support patients, and improve patient flow across the whole hospital.

Support our amazing ED team as they continue to improve care for our community

Shop the Emergency and Critical Care collection from the Grand River Hospital Foundation!