Vitalité Health Network picked to take part in a national project to improve surgical services

Bathurst, Tuesday, July 23, 2019 – Vitalité Health Network is pleased to announce that it is among the seven health organizations across the country that were picked to participate in a national project to improve the quality of surgical care and patient safety.

Called “Enhanced Recovery Canada”, the project is under the auspices of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute. According to Gilles Lanteigne, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Network, the project is intended to provide care teams with the tools, resources and strategies to implement the principles of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS). “The objective of ERAS is to improve the quality of surgical care and patient safety. As part if this project, the Network is committed to implementing standardized, patient-centred protocols based on best practices across the country,” he indicated.

According to Sharon Smyth-Okana, Director of Surgical Services, ERAS has numerous benefits for patients. “I can name a few, including (1) reduced complications after an operation, (2) reduced length of stay, (3) activities of daily living are resumed quicker, (4) fewer hospital readmissions, (5) elimination of long fasting periods before an operation and (6) reduced stress,” she stated.

For the Network, ERAS makes it possible to (1) provide surgical services within the prescribed timeframes, (2) observe best practices and national standards, (3) use our resources more efficiently, (4) reduce length of stay, (5) standardize care and (6) promote multidisciplinary work and a collaborative approach.

ERAS lets patients be part of the team while improving the care experience and results. The Network hired a coordinator and put an ERAS team in place. Contacts have been made with other health facilities in the country that have already started implementing ERAS. The implementation of this innovative project will begin in the early fall with colorectal operations at the Chaleur Regional Hospital. The project will then be extended to other specialties and types of surgeries, across all Surgical departments within the Network.