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Total EMC Distribution 474,000
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Proud to be part of your past, present and future since 1887 April 18, 2013 | 88 pages
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Honouring service to community
FEATURE
EMC News – The Toledo Royal Canadian Legion Branch 475 held its inaugural honours and awards ceremony April 14 at the legion hall. During the ceremony, which was attended by local dignitaries including Leeds-Grenville MPP Steve Clark, several special certificates were handed out. Left, longtime legion member Eldon Mackie, left, receives the prestigious 65-year pin at the event from past zone 2 commander Ray Foster Sr. For more coverage of the event, see page SF5.
C Community i Pitch-In Pi h I April A il 20 kicks ki k off annual clean-up effort. — Page SF11
SPORTS
Photo by ASHLEY KULP
Fifth Estate ranks hospital one of best in Canada By STACEY ROY sroy@perfprint.ca
Dufort named MVP; to wear ‘C’ in upcoming season. — Page SF16
RELAY FOR LIFE
EMC News - In the class of exceptional service and care, staff of the Perth & Smiths Falls District Hospital recently received a mark of distinction having been named the only medium-sized hospital in Canada to receive the grade of A+ by the Fifth Estate’s Rate My Hospital special. “It’s a real thrill,” remarked Linda Bisonette, president and CEO of the hospital. The special report was aired on CBC last Friday, April 12 where 10 hospitals from across the country were named for their exceptional care of patients based on five risk-adjusted indicators (as reported by the Canadian Institute for Health Information - CIHI) as well as an online survey that continues to be available to residents today at CBC’s Rate My Hospital website and CEO survey results. The hospital received an A+ in the categories of mortality
after major surgery, nursingsensitivity to adverse events (medical patients), and in the area of readmission after medical treatment. It earned an A in nursing sensitivity to adverse events (surgical patients) and a B in readmission after surgery. A rating of A+ means the data reported by the hospital showed its outcome was substantially better than a typical hospital of the same size, while a B means it is similar. The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) sent out a statement late last week on the special report, calling into question the methodology used. “We were involved with the Fifth Estate’s producers throughout the development of ‘Rate My Hospital,’ and raised very serious methodological concerns about their basic approach to data collection, their heavy reliance on unverified, self-reported data, and their interpretation of the data. The Fifth Estate refused to acknowledge these concerns
or, it appears, address them in their project. For that reason, we believe that the entire ‘Rate My Hospital’ project, and all of the hospital ratings, are fatally flawed, lack credibility, and should be ignored,” the release states. The Record News attempted to reach the Fifth Estate for comment, but communication to the investigative team was not returned by deadline. However, the CBC’s website notes their investigative team chose the five indicators because adding specialty services would have significantly reduced the rating for many hospitals. Other measures were eliminated if a majority of hospitals didn’t have data for them. “Because of the limited amount of data released by CIHI, our ratings do not take into account the inherent uncertainty in any individual measure of hospital performance. The methods hospitals use to keep track of data about quality of care vary widely across Canada.
Publicly reported data does not show whether or not a hospital has underreported or wrongly identified certain events,” the website states. Bisonette understands that the OHA is concerned that the ratings may sway people from accessing care at their local hospital, but feels the results are still worth celebrating in Perth and Smiths Falls. “We know there are many, many measures that are used to determine quality outcomes, but this was an apples to apples survey,” Bisonette said. Dr. Peter Roney, chief of staff at the hospital further added in a press release: “Hospitals are complex organizations and there are many, many measures which could be included in a study such as this, so we can’t stop and rest on our success with this survey as it is critical to continuously review all aspects of our work in an effort to make every process, every interaction better than the one before.” Consistently striving for im-
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provement and living the values of care, respect and compassion on the part of every member of the hospital team is what Bisonette attributes the positive rating to. “We work with our family, friends and neighbours and we care for our family, friends and neighbours,” Bisonette said. The Fifth Estate’s April 12 airing resulted in immediate responses from members of the community and former staff from as far away as British Columbia who sent in congratulations to the hospital on its rating. Monday night Smiths Falls Mayor Dennis Staples added his congratulations during the regular council meeting. “We’re very proud of that,” he stated. The hospital plans to celebrate this most recent achievement as early as today (Thursday, April 18) with staff, volunteers, etc. “This recognition is a tribute to the hard working staff, See RANKINGS page SF4
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