Grey Bruce Health Services is one of 88 hospitals worldwide to be recognized by the American College of Surgeons for achieving quality outcomes for surgery patients.
The surgery department participates in the National Surgical Quality Improvement program, which aims to reduce infection, illness and death related to surgical procedures.
Local hospitals have been awarded 'meritorious status' for outcomes of surgical patient care in 2018.
General Surgeon Dr. Alan Lozon says in a media release, “This recognition puts the GBHS surgery program in an elite category of North American hospitals that offer a very high standard of care, and excellent results for patients undergoing surgery,”
Participating hospitals are required to track eight outcomes 30 days after a patient has had surgery.
Based on the results, hospitals are recognized for their achievements in either an “All Cases” category or for only “High Risk” patient surgeries.
Grey Bruce Health Services achieved recognition for all cases measured they included, Mortality, Ventilator (48 hours), Cardiac arrest and myocardial infarction, Renal Failure, Pneumonia, Surgical site infections, Unplanned Intubation, Urinary tract infection.
Grey Bruce Health Services Chief of Staff Dr. Bob Severs says in a media release, they are by far the smallest of the 11 Canadian hospitals to achieve the status.
According to Severs,”When it comes to surgery, our patients can expect to get the same great care as other hospitals who also achieved this recognition – including the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, the Cleveland Clinic, and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre here in Ontario. You can't get rural health care better than that.”
Grey Bruce Health Services has been participating in the quality improvement program since 2014.
The hospital group says the data helps staff and surgeons to improve results, and learn from the experiences of other participating hospitals.
A full list of the recognized hospitals is available online.
