Brampton Civic Hospital has been named one of 26 hospital sites across Ontario that will take part in a new provincial program aimed at cutting emergency room wait times.
The Ontario government announced on Wednesday (Oct. 7) that it will invest more than $47 million over the next four years to create an Emergency Department Action Team, or EDAT, that will work directly with selected hospitals to find bottlenecks and move patients through emergency departments faster.
Etobicoke General Hospital, which is also part of the William Osler Health System along with Brampton Civic, is included in the initiative, according to INSAUGA Canada. Credit Valley Hospital and Mississauga Hospital, both run by Trillium Health Partners, round out the four sites in Brampton and Mississauga.
How the program will work
The action team will examine each step of a patient's journey through the emergency department, from first assessment and testing to admission or discharge, to pinpoint where delays occur and what can be done to speed things up.
The province said the 26 hospitals were selected based on emergency department volumes, operational metrics and performance indicators, as well as a desire to include a diverse mix of hospital types and regions.
The program builds on a first phase carried out last fall at five emergency department locations run by The Ottawa Hospital, Windsor Regional Hospital and Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre. That work identified operational problems and workforce challenges tied to patient delays, and looked at changes that could help patients move more quickly through assessment, diagnostics, admission and discharge.
According to the province, the lessons from that first phase will now guide the work at the 26 hospitals taking part in this second phase.
Local impact
For Brampton and Mississauga, the program means the four local hospital sites will undergo a detailed review of where delays happen and what adjustments could improve patient flow through their emergency departments.
Hospitals not directly involved in the second phase are also expected to benefit, the province added, because tools, resources and insights from the program will be shared across the broader healthcare network.
The EDAT will be led by Dr. Abdel-Rahman Lawendy, an orthopedic surgeon and researcher based in London, Ontario.
"Improving access to timely emergency care remains a priority for Ontario's health system," Deputy Minister of Health Deborah Richardson and Ontario Health CEO Matthew Anderson wrote in a memo to hospital CEOs and board chairs.
They noted that emergency departments across the province continue to face growing patient volumes and higher acuity levels, meaning patients are arriving with more complex care needs.
The provincial announcement acknowledges the ongoing strain on emergency departments from rising patient numbers, more serious conditions and increased overall demands on the healthcare system.
