July 16, 2001
Contact:
Nancy Lawrence
Media Relations, LHSC
519-685-8500, ext. 77642
London Health Sciences Centre pleased with OHA Hospital Report 2001
(LONDON, Ontario) - It's a report card that evokes great pride. London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) has received its Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) Report 2001: Acute Care results and the findings indicate that LHSC has not only continued to do well in areas highlighted in past reports, but has, in fact, made significant improvements in other areas.
"We are particularly proud of our outstanding patient satisfaction scores. Our patients are telling us that they are very satisfied with their overall care and they have made particular mention of the care they have received from our doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals,"says LHSC President & CEO, Tony Dagnone.
"I wish to commend the staff and physicians at LHSC who have continued to provide exceptional care to our patients in the midst of changing and challenging times. It takes special and talented people to meet and exceed people's expectations. All of the praise goes to the LHSC team.
The Ontario Hospital Association's "Hospital Report 2001: Acute Care" is the third annual report on acute care and it builds on methods developed by the University of Toronto researchers. The aim of these reports is to help people in Ontario better understand and assess the performance of their local hospital - and of the province's hospitals as a whole. They also support efforts by hospitals to improve the quality of their services.
"As an organization, we are committed to accountability to our patients, our staff, and our community. As such, we are fully supportive of this OHA initiative and welcome such scrutiny," says Mr. Dagnone, adding that this project is just one of many accountability initiatives in which LHSC participates.
The OHA Report is divided into four quadrants, namely patient satisfaction, clinical utilization and outcomes, financial performance and condition, and system integration and change. Each quadrant was further defined by specific indicators.
There were a total of 38 indicators for which LHSC could be evaluated. LHSC received six above average scores, six somewhat above-average scores, and 25 average scores. LHSC received one unexpected "somewhat below average" score in pneumonia complications, and zero below average scores.
LHSC received the highest rating (above-average) on the following six indicators:
- process quality (satisfaction with care and services)
- physician care
- stroke length of stay
- hysterectomy length of stay
- clinical data collection and benchmarking
- hospital and community relationships
"It is significant to us that we have been able to achieve high patient satisfaction scores while at the same time reducing patient length of stays," says Mr. Dagnone.
"We are also thrilled to receive the highest ranking in the hospital-community relationships indicator. As an organization, along with St. Joseph's Health Care London, we have endeavored to build strong linkages with our regional partners. This result speaks to the success of our Strategic Alliances team," adds Mr. Dagnone.
The hospital was also pleased with the results in the financial quadrant.
"Clearly, our financial situation has improved. This is evidence that the Operational Review we undertook in cooperation with The Ministry of Health in 2000 has resulted in positive outcomes and that our Renewal Plan is the right strategic direction for us to take," says Mr. Dagnone.
"Our performance scores are a most significant boost to the reputation of our caring organization as we advance our Renewal Plan initiatives and restructuring agenda on a city-wide basis. I hope the London community and Southwestern Ontario Region are proud of LHSC's performance. We are here to serve those citizens who require complex care and we are doing so in an efficient and effective manner."
