THANK YOU!
The next generation of medical technology is coming to Lions Gate Hospital thanks to the generosity of donors who supported our Technology Transformation Campaign.
The success of the campaign is great news for our patients and medical teams and the funds raised are already having an impact at LGH. Early equipment purchases are already being used to provide enhanced surgical care, patient monitoring and communications between staff. A total of 10 technologies will be utilized in the state-of-the-art Paul Myers Tower coming in 2025.
Thank you for making a difference and supporting our mission to improve and save lives on the North Shore.
Watch the video below to see your impact in action!
Patient Comfort & Safety
Integrated Bedside Terminal
For the first time, patients will have access to an integrated bedside terminal from which they can order meals, watch TV, make video calls, contact staff, view their medical charts with a physician and check their discharge notes. Staff will also be able to access online translation services from these patient-friendly terminals.
Patient Wander Management System
Vulnerable patients with dementia will have a tracking tag fitted to their personalized wristband. This will allow them to walk around freely in protected areas while alerts will sound if they stray out of the safety zones. Busy staff will be alerted if any patient wanders off the ward.
Better Clinical Care
Vital Signs Monitoring
Vital sign monitoring is a time-consuming yet important duty. With a vital signs monitor for every patient, the health care team can keep an eye on the status of their patients from a central console. Patients who are doing well can be left to rest while health care teams will be alerted to patients whose vital signs are a cause for concern. Continuous monitoring allows for closer observation and quicker medical interventions. All 108 rooms in the Paul Myers Tower will be equipped with a monitor.
Each operating room at LGH will be equipped with a vital signs monitor that includes special scalp sensors to allow anesthesiologists to measure the level of oxygen in a patient’s brain. Right now a limited number of monitors are available for brain surgery upper-body procedures that require the patient to be in a sitting position. In the future, the extra monitors will be available for all surgeries. With constant monitoring, anesthesiologists will be able to make adjustments quickly.
Hands-Free Communication
In an environment when seconds and minutes really matter, being able to quickly contact colleagues anywhere on the LGH campus is vital. Whether it’s calling for an extra piece of equipment in surgery, a porter to transport a patient or the emergency CPR team, the voice-activated Vocera Smartbadge, will enable staff contact each other without reaching for a phone.
Physicians, nurses and allied health will be equipped with their own Smartbadges, meaning there will be no more phone-tag, less hold-ups and more time for caring.
A Nurse Call System will be integrated with Vocera to enable patients to contact their attending nurse directly through their Vocera Smartbadge.
Anesthesia Work Station (AWS)
An Anesthesia Work Station (AWS) is a pharmaceutical dispensing system that controls and monitors all the different medications needed for surgery.
At the moment, all medications for surgery at LGH are stored in one location within the surgical unit. The Tech Transformation Campaign will help fund an AWS for each operating room allowing the drugs needed to be readily available at all times.
The AWS will be integrated with patient’s electronic records and once the anesthesiologist has reviewed the patient’s charts and chosen the drugs, they can sign them out and scan them with a barcode reader.
Not only will anesthesiologists be able to double check any medication issues related to the patient, all the drugs they administer will be automatically added to the patient record.
Personalized Room Displays
Personalised display screens outside a patient’s room will give the caregiver basic information about the patient including status, allergies, medical alerts and special precautions. This information give attending staff a quick snapshot of the patient’s needs without having to ask the patient directly. The information can be updated regularly, and patients won’t have to worry about repeating the same information to new staff as they come on shift.
Surgical Instrument and Equipment Tracking
The Medical Devices Reprocessing Department sterilizes and delivers hundreds of instruments needed for dozens of surgeries every day.
Team members will have access to an upgraded app call T-Doc which will select the best surgical tools for the specific procedure. The same app will track and trace the instrument through sterilization, use and storage so the MDRD techs like Avneet can always keep tabs on inventory.
Equipment is often shared between departments. Instead of going for a time-consuming search on foot for a piece of equipment, staff will be able to log-on.
Real Time Locating System
On arrival patients will be fitted with a personalized wristband that will allow them to be tracked easily from admission, pre-surgery, surgery to room location. Family members will know where they are and staff will know when to expect the patient’ arrival without the need for phone calls.
Improved Logistics
Clinical Locating System & Capacity Management Suite
Coordination among health care staff is key to good care. When they are admitted a patient will be fitted with a patient tag linked directly to a real-time location system that will track them through every step of their care journey from intake, to surgery to post recover care. Notifications will be sent to staff via their voice badges or cell phones.
A surgical team waiting for a patient, a porter trying to locate a patient for transfer and event family waiting for their loved ones will know where they are at any time.
With the Capacity Management Suite, staff will be able to plan the patients journey through the hospital by monitoring information such as room cleaning status, bed availability, surgical capacity and staff availability.