Nominees named for this year’s KGH Team Awards

There is no doubt that high-achieving teams are a key ingredient in helping us deliver Outstanding Care, Always to our patients and their families. That’s why the KGH Team Awards are considered to be our hospital’s most prestigious awards.

Three awards are handed out each year in the categories of Care, Knowledge and Leadership and this time there are seven deserving nominees to highlight. The nominees are:

Green Team

As the familiar tune goes, it’s not easy being green. But that hasn’t stopped KGH’s Green Team from making huge progress over the past few years towards our objective of being “clean, green and carpet free”.

The team is made up of people from a range of departments, including Facilities Management, Planning, Environmental Services, and Purchasing/Shared Support Services. Since the hospital first launched our energy retrofit program back in 2010 with our partner Honeywell Canada, it’s members have been busy replacing windows, HVAC systems and older light fixtures.

It’s all added up to over $800,000 in energy savings and reduced our carbon footprint by over 14 per cent. KGH is also now conserving big on our water usage, thanks to the installation of low flow toilets, sinks and other water fixtures. Along with helping us pour more money back into patient care, all of these improvements are also being noted by other organizations across the province. This year, KGH received a Silver on the OHA’s Green Hospital Scorecard and its Water Conservation & Protection Award, as well as the 2014 CHES Wayne McLelland Award of Excellence in Healthcare Facilities Management.

Accessibility Advisory Committee

In a hospital as big and complex as KGH, it takes commitment and effort to make sure we are improving accessibility. Our Accessibility Advisory Committee is comprised of people living with disabilities, Patient Experience Advisors and employees and together they help ensure KGH is compliant with accessibility legislation. They also make sure every member of our community has an opportunity to influence all services to ensure they are delivered in a respectful and equitable way.

Over the past few years, the committee was engaged in many important initiatives, including the installation of 12 resting stations for patients and visitors along our level 1 and 0 corridors. Members also advised closely on the installation of accessible examination rooms, public washrooms in our main lobbies, our new wayfinding system and non-slip flooring.

This committee is also recognized as being a role model for other hospitals and was recognized in 2014 through the Excellence Canada – Ontario Accessibility Award.

Interprofessional Education Expo Team

This two-day event is a highlight of the KGH Community Showcase and it’s been growing steadily. Last year, the event featured 16 presenter stations at the main venue and 12 portable stations that moved around the hospital to reach as many people as possible.

Team members chose the displays with the aim of highlighting how different professions, teams and programs contribute to cutting-edge patient care. The expo also provides a venue for scholarly dialogue and networking and highlights the diversity of roles and resources available within the organization.

Over the course of last year’s expo, about 2,000 different presentations were shared with visitors to the event.

Medicine Program Proactive Medication Reconciliation project team

One of our hospital’s patient safety targets this fiscal year is an increase in medication reconciliation for patients admitted to the hospital. That’s where this project team is having a big impact.

Over the past few months, the team has launched a new proactive medication reconciliation model which has allowed the pharmacy team to work more collaboratively with the Emergency Department and Medicine Program. Together, staff and physicians streamlined the process and improved patient and medication safety. This includes proactively obtaining a Best Possible Medication History from patients in the ED before they are admitted. This has made the gathering of home medication histories more efficient and has saved precious time during the admissions process.

As a result, compliance has already increased to 80 per cent, a 20 per cent improvement. This history is also filled out electronically thereby reducing the number of transcription errors that can happen due to handwriting errors.

University Hospitals Kingston Foundation

Staff and volunteers with the KGH Foundation (KGHF) and the University Hospitals Kingston Foundation (UHKF) teamed up this past year to create Canada's first full-scope, amalgamated foundation for three separate health care corporations.

The UHKF was first created in 2005 in response to community feedback requesting a single fundraising program supporting the renewal of facilities, purchasing of equipment and support for staff education and research.

To take this model to the next level, all four hospital foundations were amalgamated into the UHKF in July of 2014. This new organization took on full responsibility not only for fundraising, but also management of a $58 million investment portfolio, a $2 million granting program and ensuring oversight of funds being dedicated to the respective hospital.

The new UHKF now integrates administrative functions which makes it easier to provide better stewardship and reporting to donors on the use of their funds. The new model also means more funds are directed to equipment, care, research and education.

RACE Team

The Rapid Assessment of Critical Event or RACE Team is made up of clinicians who bring resuscitation expertise to patients no matter where they are within the hospital.

The team is available 24 hours a day, and it's created each day from a pool of 25 Registered Nurses, 10 physicians, and all of our Respiratory Therapists.

Along with providing immediate assistance to patients and their health care teams while in crisis, the RACE team also assists with communication during a transfer of care situation and helps engage patients and families in discussions about their care and about end-of-life care.

Intensive Transitional Treatment Program

This new outpatient program launched over the summer and it fills a gap that had existed for patients of our mental health program. It accepts referrals from our inpatient mental health program and from our Emergency Department and helps patients develop their coping skills and take responsibility for their mental health and overall wellbeing after they have been discharged.

The first month after discharge from an inpatient stay is a high-risk time for many people, with increased rates of suicide, relapse and readmission to hospital. Most community mental health services have wait lists that can affect a patient’s ability to sustain clinical gains made during admission to hospital.

With the ITTP, participants can get needed support up to five days a week for four weeks. The program offers both group and individual therapy sessions.

The program was made possible through funding first received from the SE LHIN in March.