Living in Aurora, Town of Aurora, Ontario » Health

Southlake Regional Hospital, On The Way Out, Emergency Room Observations, Part II

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 06:57:24 +0000

The Broader Public Sector Accountability Act (BPSAA) amended the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) to increase transparency of the hospital system. As of January 1, 2012 the hospitals became subject to the Ontario’s FIPPA and since media needs attractive and appealing the news headlines have been very upsetting probably to many of us.

It made me think about all that when I was waiting at the emergency room last Tuesday, over a week ago. Is our media exaggerating? May be or may be not. For me it is tough to say because I have seen lots of twists and turns reported by media. How much can they twist and turn since the CEO’s contracts are now transparent to everyone. Salary numbers alone do not tell the complete story.

Talking about attractive headlines, I noticed that the first Toronto Star’s headline ‘$75,000 car allowance for hospital executives revealed’ has been changed to something more not so appealing ‘Generous perks given to Ontario hospital executives, contracts reveal‘. Here is one from the York Region (not so useful either), ‘Hospital CEO perks in spotlight‘.

In my opinion, CEO salary numbers must be closely related to the hospital’s score card. What I mean and what I wish to see is that the CEO salary is tied to the performance – to elaborate CEO performance tied to the hospital performance.

I do not support extra perks CEOs are treated with. That tells me that instead of doing their job they enjoy their generous 5-6 weeks of vacation, golf, exercise and not worry about their retirement. It may be high stress job, but they are not the only ones out there with a stressful job and that kind of pampering should stop.

My other question is who works for the CEO at the hospital? The doctors, nurses, medical technicians or CONSULTANTS? We all know that sometimes consultants charge an arm and the leg. I hope you can see what I am trying to say – who really solves the issues? I have no problem with high CEO pay as long he/she can save the hospital ten or twenty times more. To me this salary information recently released just upsets taxpayers and patients. I was fortunate to have good treatment at the Southlake hospital that day so I was only semi-upset. We need to see more.

So we were on our way out… We were waiting at the entrance of the emergency room in front of the security guard station. It was too cold to stay outside, but not for one female patient.

She looked composed but was she? She had skirt and boots on and on top all she had was the hospital gown. She was holding a cigarette pack and lighter in her hands. She walked out. I looked. I couldn’t resist – under her hospital gown all she had was a black bra. Her back was all exposed. When she walked outside, to my surprise, she did not react to the cold. She went far away from the entrance to smoke, probably due to smoke free by-law. After while her behavior was strange. She would cross from one side to the other few times and at some point with her gown almost being blown away by the wind she almost slipped on the curb.

My husband arrived with the car to pick us up. He noticed the same. He too suggested that we tell security guard. I did but they seem not to care. It looked like they knew about her. I did not enjoy saying anything to them as it seems like my words did not mean a thing. Well she was way off the camera range so if there something to happen to her they would never see it. One of them finally came out when she tried to access the wrong entrance.

I just wasn’t happy about that.

‘Why did the man died?‘ – Matthew asked in the car while driving home.

‘Matthew man did not die, he was just getting transported from one hospital to another. They had to wrap him up in the sheet like that because it was really cold outside.‘ – I replied.

‘Oh, okay‘ – he replied happy.

It never occurred to me that Lion King movie would have such a strong effect on the 3.5 year old.

Wash Your Hands

When we got home we all washed our hands very well (Part 1), and an air shower on the way out the hospital would be nice idea.

Conclusion, we are one step closer. We just need more hospital performance transparency, and not just views from patience. We need to have number to number comparison, CEO salaries, other costs associated with their projects and overall hospital performance score card.

Southlake Regional Hospital Visit, Emergency Room Observations, Part I

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:55:37 +0000

Unfortunately, we have managed to visit the Southlake Regional Health Centre, Newmarket. Matthew wasn’t getting any better so we packed ourselves on Tuesday evening and headed for the Emergency room. With all the flu and cold bugs going on during this mild weather conditions we hated the idea of going to the emergency. Last thing we wanted is to have another bug to follow us from the hospital back to our home.

Since our last visit about 2 years ago a lot has changed.

More hand sanitizers, face masks for children, and tissue boxes everywhere. Waiting area enlarged with air purification system installed above. No smoking on the hospital premises and close by. That was refreshing as I am very and I mean very sensitive to the second hand smoke. During my travels to Japan I think I lost first layer of skin on my face just from the second hand smoke.

I saw improvements, but, but I continue to see lot of waste.

We arrived and waited about 2 minutes when our number got called by the triage nurse – ‘35‘. Two nurses attended us, one to ask questions and write everything down and another to take all the measurements such temperature or weight. On the side note, there is always that one person that makes you feel, why are you here for?

Fast Track, Southlake, Not So Fast

After triage we waited few minutes for the registration and then we were moved to the Fast Track area. Kind of ironic because it wasn’t that fast at all. Probably it all depends how severe the condition is then you get fast tracked. We spent waiting about one hour if I recall. This must have been good day in the emergency as I happened to notice that everyone was a bit more relaxed. It is always easier to deal with someone under less stress.

When waiting I recall looking at this purple bluish poster on the wall. The message was clear – wash your hands. Most of the germs travel from hand to hand (and who ever said that touch cannot be powerful, it can kill you). Oh I get it, the increased number of hand sanitizer bottles throughout the emergency room.

Wash Your Hands

Well that does not stop the hospital from having a mess. The sanitizer bottles, face masks, boxes of tissue and reading material such magazines spread out in the every waiting area. It is just messy. Dirt and dust floating and not to mention some microbes attach themselves to dust (okay, this may be an extreme). I never touched any of the magazines that day, never did in the past and will not in the future. I just read posters on the wall or now with TVs being installed watching takes the boredom away or even worries.

Microbes and Dust, They Go Together

Now how about all the inventory of stuff. We are a society that we have to have different tool for different task. Our lives are completely exaggerated with all the things around to use. I think it is the same with hospitals. The accessories to accommodate every need may not be necessary. Those rooms filled with supplies should be reduced – I think. And I don’t mean to shift it on the patient, because lately everyone seems to be doing so.

Around 10:30 pm we finally cleared the Fast Track and doctor S dropped by our compartment. Matthew was diagnosed with bacterial infection. Doctor S was a very nice and knowledgeable doctor. He explained to us in great detail what kind of infection it was, wrote down medical terms, explained the treatment and prescribed antibiotic. We were very pleased. Aha, good day today.

Before doctor S left to attend another patient he told nurse to give Matthew a double dose of antibiotic. After few minutes she arrived with two syringes carrying them up high in the air. She carried them out from the pharmacy all the way to Matthew’s mouth. I just hope that she did not stop to chat and kept those syringes very clean during the short travel time. They were used to administer the medication through the mouth.

Another side note. Google is starting to be a very interesting tool for doctors to tell patients to use it. Doctors will explain the diagnosis and give us the medical terms and then they say here you can Google it yourself if you would like to find out more. I still remember when Matthew was born and was crying a lot first couple of weeks. My family doctor told me to Google colic but he did mention that Matthew was too young to be colic. Well I did Googled and it did not solve the problem, it actually scared me. After I did my colic research my child was sick with everything. When I finally got to talk to someone with common sense, Matthew was just a very hungry baby.

That day at the emergency we were happy that doctor knew exactly what it was. It is the unknown that scares us. Matthew is now much better. On the way out I observed much more but that will be in the Part II post.

Barefoot Running, Nordic Walking, Something I Never Tried

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:44:03 +0000

Few months ago while walking on the Nokiidaa Trail Link boardwalk a barefoot runner ran by. That was kind of odd to see someone running barefoot. Not new to me. I grew up running all day barefoot. We never liked wearing shoes and we probably were more religious washing our feet before bed rather than hands.

Now days walking streets of the Aurora, not sure if I would ever want to run barefoot. That day the runner was lucky not to get any splinter, step into goose, duck or dog poop, bubble gum, glass or run over some spilled spoiled juice. Or may be he did?

While there are benefits to the barefoot running I don’t find it to be a very hygienic run. I am talking the true barefoot running because apparently there are shoes for barefoot runners, and they look more like gloves for the feet.

Nordic Walk, Sheppard's Bush Trail, Aurora

So while you deliberating if you should start the barefoot running next spring or summer (not sure if winter is suitable) you may consider the Nordic walking or pole walking. I spotted this sport couple of years ago when walkers were getting ready at the St. Andrew’s Golf Course parking lot. Regularly I see a group walking in the Arboretum or Sheppard’s Bush Trail during my adventures around Aurora.

Nordic walking is growing as an alternative to ordinary fitness walking because it can easily be mastered and can be performed year-round in any climate anywhere by a person of any age or ability who might otherwise walk without poles. It combines simplicity and accessibility of walking with simultaneous core and upper body conditioning and significantly enhanced aerobic effects quite similar to those of Nordic skiing. The result is a full-body walking workout that expends significantly more calories without a change in perceived exertion or having to walk faster, due to the incorporation of many large core, and other upper-body muscles which comprise more than 90% of the body’s total muscle mass and do work against resistance with each stride. ‘Normal walking’ utilizes only 70% of muscle mass with full impact on the joints of the legs and feet. Source: Wiki

Personally, I think this is one of the best sports someone would like to get involved. While getting exercise, you are also getting fresh air and exposure to daylight. Also it looks like a nice getting together event if you don’t want to walk alone.

For me? I don’t know. It would be hard because if I supposedly saw a bird on the tree, my Nordic walking would become Nordic chase-a-bird exercise. I guess we all got our preferences, and you already know where my preference is.

Stepped On The Bug And It Burst, Stomach Virus Is Going Around In Town

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:46:33 +0000

Everyone is silent this year. No body reports on the outbreaks, but I think there are a couple of bugs that you need to watch out for. I have been hearing a lot about strep throat going around. But this one I did not need to hear about – the stomach virus.

Spreading ... just like fungi

Last week we played with some kids, we had a tai chi class and visited library. After all that by Tuesday night I was sick in the stomach. It was a definitely stomach virus – cold shivers and throwing up all night. My joints were in terrible pain, could not eat. I did not move very much. Sleep was my best friend.

By Thursday morning I am much better. Still cannot eat.

But by Thursday noon Matthew gets the bug. His actually was really bad. At some point of his throwing up he could not control himself anymore and I was not fast enough to catch it. Laundry and cleaning all I did.

Those bugs eventually go away. When the stomach feels hunger, that means that the virus is on the way out, and next step is to start the nourishment. Matthew’s lasted for about 5 hours. He got hungry right away. His eyes were big but stomach shrunk to the pea size. He couldn’t eat.

As of today he is still a bit weak and has trouble eating.

So we thought that everything was great by Sunday. But no, it was my husband’s turn.

Yesterday, I found out that the kids we played at the beginning of the last week were all sick with the same thing too, including their caregiver.

Just like that. Glad that all is over for now. It makes you appreciate how good it is to be healthy.

Now, do I have recommendations – may be just few. Stomach virus is silent and invisible during incubation time, you really don’t know who carries it. How to avoid it, no idea, but once you get it – keep hydrated, absolutely no dairy products and sweets. Virus feeds on those. When in recovery, some fresh air and sunlight my boost your energy levels up.