Improving health services in Kent through collaboration
February 13, 2024
At Vitalité Health Network, our purpose is to foster the health of our patients and communities, not only today, but for a sustainable future.
This mission resonates just as strongly in the Kent region, where more than 9,000 of the 32,000 residents are aged 65 and over and rely on our essential services. In this community, 85% of hospitalized patients are awaiting placement in a long-term care facility. A reality that poses a challenge for the health care system, but especially for seniors for whom hospitals are not an appropriate living environment; a challenge that is one of the priorities identified by the community.
We recently conducted a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) for the Bouctouche, Richibucto and Saint-Antoine regions. This assessment identified six main priorities, including support for seniors. It also covers access to primary health care services, the promotion of healthy lifestyle habits and the fight against socioeconomic precariousness. These priorities will guide us and local leaders as we plan services and resources to meet the needs of the community.
Services currently offered at the Stella-Maris-de-Kent Hospital include a diabetes clinic, diagnostic imaging, laboratory, ambulatory care services provided by various specialists, namely in cardiology and respiratory therapy, speech-language pathology and physiotherapy services, as well as an emergency department. In the community, there is the Personalized Service Management (PSM) program and the services of six nurse practitioners and two family doctors. These health care workers are at the beginning of a co-construction with the Network's primary health care team to implement our new model focused on service coordination and collaboration between care providers.
Improving the patient experience is at the heart of our concerns. Despite the current challenges, we are persevering in our efforts to improve the performance of our facilities by focusing on patient flow management in the hospital setting and in the community.
In addition, by working with our local teams of health care professionals, we are committed to improving access to primary health care, another need identified by our community. In fact, deployment of the new integrated primary care model is progressing well in the Kent region. Based on collaboration between care providers, this model aims to provide access in under five days.
As a result, we have identified improvement opportunities for both the public and our employees. The first phase, focused on stabilizing services and increasing support for our employees, will be followed by a medium- to long-term phase of continuous improvement, carried out in close collaboration with community stakeholders.
For staff, resources will be added to support the patient flow teams. We are also continuing our efforts to recruit and retain health care workers.
In the longer term, the vision for the facility will be defined in close consultation with the community, through the learning community that is taking place in Kent and the facility master plan that will also be developed with the community.
In conclusion, we are committed to co-constructing the future of health and well-being in Kent with our communities. This commitment is rooted in our continuous learning-based planning approach, which enables us to build on what we learn in the field. Improving health care services in Kent requires collaboration between Vitalité Health Network and its communities, as well as between all stakeholders, staff and medical professionals, throughout the Network.
—France Desrosiers, President and CEO
