Latest news with #NLHS
CBC
13-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
NLHS explores idea of weapon detection systems in health-care facilities
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services says it's exploring the idea of implementing weapon detection systems at health-care facilities across the province, in an effort to shore up safety for patients and staff. "Our hospitals are a microcosm of what's happening in the community. So as we see things change in our community when it comes to security and safety, we're going to see some of that possibly spill into our sites," said Allison Collins, the health authority's provincial security operations manager. "We're always going to take proactive measures in ensuring that our facilities are safe." Collins says the systems can take different approaches, the most common is akin to a metal detector. Hospitals in other provinces have adopted artificial intelligence to screen and distinguish weapons from other items like house keys. Collins said NLHS is exploring what method could work best in Newfoundland and Labrador. Currently, NLHS doesn't search for weapons. Collins said an effort has been made to expand security measures since the health authority merged into one from four regional health authorities in 2023, but a timeline isn't in place right now for any new system. Next steps, she said, involve deciding which sites would see the practice implemented should it move forward. Violence in health care Yvette Coffey, president of the Registered Nurses' Union of Newfoundland and Labrador, said the impact of violent incidents in the health-care system continues to be felt, and detecting weapons is just one part of making buildings safer, but not the only solution. "On a daily basis, when people are reporting for work, in the back of their minds they're thinking 'What do I have to face today? What's coming through the door?'" Coffey said Monday. "I can't walk into the Confederation Building here in Newfoundland and Labrador without going through a metal detector. But yet, at the same time with rising incidents of violence in the health-care system workplaces, we have nothing. The doors are unlocked." Coffey said much of the violence health-care staff face is verbal or emotional abuse, but that can also turn physical. While it may not always include outside weapons, Coffey said tools inside care centres also become a threat. "It could be an IV pole from the hospital. It could be a chair. That we've seen in several incidents. Recently, we had one incident where, you know, there was printers," she said. "The staff didn't get physically hurt, but the physical trauma that goes along with an attack like that is very everlasting." Coffey said there are other steps that need to be taken to help limit violence in health care, like proper training for security guards, de-escalation training for all front-line staff and charging those who engage in violence under the Criminal Code of Canada. "If you assault someone in a grocery store, it is the same as if you assault someone in a health-care setting," she said. "Once we start charging people ... I think there will be a different tune." Coffey said the health authority needs to continue to find ways to make wait times shorter, and that frustration can often amount to a patient lashing out physically or emotionally.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Thousands of health-care products under the microscope as N.L. examines U.S.-procured items
Tony Williams is Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services' senior director of supply chain management. (Mark Cumby/CBC) Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services says everything it buys is under the microscope as it looks for alternatives to U.S. products, but adds it can't come at the cost of affecting patients. Tony Williams, the senior director of supply chain for NLHS, says thousands of items are housed inside the health authority's new 85,000-sq. ft warehouse in St. John's — which he says serves as the backbone of the health system. "We're doing that deep dive now to say, 'What's under the covers, what actually is manufactured in the States versus Canadian.' So that's the work we're doing now," Williams said in a recent interview. "We want to make sure that any transition from a U.S. product to something else, hopefully Canadian, ... [that] the health-care provider is OK with that. We want to make sure that that achieves those high standards." In March, Health Minister John Haggie said the province is reviewing its procurement of American medical goods. Williams said that's easier said than done given the volume of products — and how those products are sourced. For example, the warehouse stores multiple products from the same company, but some shipments come from Canada and others come from the U.S. as they are sourced by the contractor. There are thousands of boxes inside the NLHS warehouse, each of which have been looked at. A review of where products come from has found examples like this one, where two boxes of product from the same company came from different countries. (Heather Gillis/CBC) More than 200 expiring contracts with U.S. suppliers are under review, Williams said. And while there are local solutions on the table, quantity is a key facet of any dealing. "There's a lot of competence here to make health-care products, [but] we want to make sure that they can also provide in the quantities that we need for the health system," he said. "Our number one concern in all this is patient care." However, there are some American products that can't be avoided, like imaging machines and parts for orthopedic surgeries like hip and knee replacements. Christine Donaldson, president of Health Pro Canada, which bulk buys for more than 2,000 health facilities across Canada, said about a third of their contracts have ties to the U.S. Christine Donaldson, president and CEO of Health Pro Canada, says governments need to ensure there aren't unforeseen consequences in retaliatory tariffs, especially around medical equipment. (CBC) That accounts for 38 per cent of medical devices imported into Canada in 2022, which represents a cost of $5.2 billion. "[The] U.S. has been our strongest trading partner for many, many years. And to unravel that would, you know, take a long time to get into all those details," Donaldson said. "While we definitely stand with the government that ... U.S. tariffs can't go answered, it is really [something] we are exploring as far as how much we can, you know, work with Canadian partners." Donaldson said Health Pro Canada is advocating to ensure the trade war doesn't increase cost for those seeking medical care or open the door to supply chain shortages. Part of that work ensures medical equipment isn't part of retaliatory tariffs placed by Canada on the U.S., she said. "Canadians' health-care system must be protected from those unintended consequences…. Ultimately, the patient at the end of that will suffer." Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.
CBC
27-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Thousands of health-care products under the microscope as N.L. examines U.S.-procured items
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services says everything it buys is under the microscope as it looks for alternatives to U.S. products, but adds it can't come at the cost of affecting patients. Tony Williams, the senior director of supply chain for NLHS, says thousands of items are housed inside the health authority's new 85,000-sq. ft warehouse in St. John's — which he says serves as the backbone of the health system. "We're doing that deep dive now to say, 'What's under the covers, what actually is manufactured in the States versus Canadian.' So that's the work we're doing now," Williams said in a recent interview. "We want to make sure that any transition from a U.S. product to something else, hopefully Canadian, ... [that] the health-care provider is OK with that. We want to make sure that that achieves those high standards." In March, Health Minister John Haggie said the province is reviewing its procurement of American medical goods. Williams said that's easier said than done given the volume of products — and how those products are sourced. For example, the warehouse stores multiple products from the same company, but some shipments come from Canada and others come from the U.S. as they are sourced by the contractor. More than 200 expiring contracts with U.S. suppliers are under review, Williams said. And while there are local solutions on the table, quantity is a key facet of any dealing. "There's a lot of competence here to make health-care products, [but] we want to make sure that they can also provide in the quantities that we need for the health system," he said. "Our number one concern in all this is patient care." However, there are some American products that can't be avoided, like imaging machines and parts for orthopedic surgeries like hip and knee replacements. Christine Donaldson, president of Health Pro Canada, which bulk buys for more than 2,000 health facilities across Canada, said about a third of their contracts have ties to the U.S. That accounts for 38 per cent of medical devices imported into Canada in 2022, which represents a cost of $5.2 billion. "[The] U.S. has been our strongest trading partner for many, many years. And to unravel that would, you know, take a long time to get into all those details," Donaldson said. "While we definitely stand with the government that ... U.S. tariffs can't go answered, it is really [something] we are exploring as far as how much we can, you know, work with Canadian partners." Donaldson said Health Pro Canada is advocating to ensure the trade war doesn't increase cost for those seeking medical care or open the door to supply chain shortages. Part of that work ensures medical equipment isn't part of retaliatory tariffs placed by Canada on the U.S., she said. "Canadians' health-care system must be protected from those unintended consequences…. Ultimately, the patient at the end of that will suffer."
CBC
20-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Looking for a psychological assessment in N.L.? Be prepared to wait
Karleena Squires had to wait three years or spend nearly $3,000 to get an assessment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Squires, who was 32 at the time of her diagnosis, chose to spend the money. "I decided that if I was going to wait a long time, it would probably be best to go private," she told CBC News. There is a growing demand for autism spectrum disorder referrals and ADHD psychodiagnostic assessments, according to Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services. Wait times for psychological evaluations vary across the province. For adults, they can range from 18 months to five years. For children, wait times range between 12 to 27 months, depending on the type of assessment and location. Squires, who is now 35, says her diagnosis wasn't on her radar until her TikTok feed started to feel too personal. "I started seeing more and more videos of women around my age getting late diagnoses for ADHD, and they started explaining their symptoms. I felt like it was a checklist," Squires said. Those symptoms include choice paralysis, hyperfixations on topics or hobbies, forgetfulness, impulsivity and procrastination. "I grew up thinking ADHD was, you know, bouncing in your seat, unable to pay attention, but it's so much more than that," Squires said. NLHS told CBC News that waitlists are only maintained in some parts of the province. Where waitlists do not apply, individuals are prioritized based on clinical need and resource availability of the province's registered psychologists and psychiatrists. Acting Health Minister John Haggie told CBC News he doesn't think the wait times for psychological evaluations provided by NLHS are accurate. "Until we get accurate data, I think it would be unwise to speculate too much," he said. "Quite frankly, our problem is we have a challenge recruiting and retaining psychologists within NLHS." But, not all mental health physicians diagnose adults with ADHD or autism. Kay Snow and Angie Follett both received autism diagnosis — or confirmation, as Follett describes it — as adults. Snow has been on the public waitlist for three years. Following the advice of her doctor, they received her autism diagnosis through the private system. "I'm just waiting to see how long it takes," Snow said. "He said to me, 'If you wait publicly, that's years and years, you'll never get in. You have to go private, especially if you think that you're going to lose your job.'" Follett received her diagnosis through a public research program conducted by a psychologist at Memorial University. Meanwhile, she says, her husband has been waitlisted for five years. "I got to be a guinea pig, but I got lucky. I didn't have to fork over a lot of money, and my process was nowhere near as difficult as what a lot of other people experience," Follett said. "I managed to get one, and my husband didn't." If her husband pursues a psychological evaluation privately, the couple will have to pay upwards of $3,200, she said. "I don't know where it's going to come from," Follett said. Follett wants the province to cover the expenses of private health-care if it has to rely on the private system. "Political will is going to be a really, really big thing to get this stuff moving, and I don't get the sense that the people who are currently in power really understand how desperate this is," she said. Haggie said NLHS has considered funding private providers to deal with backlogs and waitlists. He said it's been done with ophthalmologists and cataracts. "If we need to buy in expertise or skills to help with waitlists, we've done it before, and I'm perfectly prepared to have those discussions with psychologists and psychiatrists," he said.
CBC
12-02-2025
- Health
- CBC
NLHS could need $5M, more agency nurses to staff new beds in old hospital
Dr. Pat Parfrey, CEO of Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services, says it makes sense to house overflow patients from the new Western Memorial Regional Hospital in Corner Brook's old hospital. (Colleen Connors/CBC) The new head of Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services says the health authority will need more than $5 million to deal with the overflow of alternative care patients at the new Western Memorial Regional Hospital in Corner Brook, and will likely need to contract agency nurses to staff interim care beds at the city's old hospital. As first reported by CBC News on Monday, alternative care patients are taking up between 30 and 40 per cent of the new hospital's acute care beds. On Tuesday, NLHS CEO Dr. Pat Parfrey elaborated on plans to incorporate 45 new care beds into the old Corner Brook hospital, but said that staffing could require agency nurses. "It's a big problem, and we have a deficit of providers in this part of the province," Parfrey said. "Trying to fulfil those recruitment issues is a challenge for us." Teara Freake, NLHS COO and vice-president of the western zone, said the health authority is taking strides to address staffing needs in the Corner Brook area. "We have a current graduating class of 34 at the school of nursing and in other areas. We have 22 of those staff confirmed with another nine in progress, so we're hopeful to obtain a lot of those nurses," Freake said. WATCH | Health executives were in Corner Brook on Tuesday: N.L. Health Services hopes to bring new care beds to old Corner Brook hospital in next six months Duration 2:15 The health authority says turning the old hospital site in Corner Brook into a transitional care facility has been in the works for some time, and senior executives are now providing more details on Western Memorial Regional Hospital's overflow problem. CBC's Colleen Connors has the story. Seventeen practical nurses have also been recruited from the graduating class as of January, Freake said, and the health authority also expects around 10 international nurses to be ready for practice in the region each month from May to September. However, she also said agency nurses could be required. NLHS announced plans in May 2024, to cut the use of agency nurses to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels by 2026. Using old hospital beats waiting for new facility: Parfrey Two requests for proposals will be issued soon in hopes the 45 beds can be open for care in the next six months, Parfrey said. He couldn't share an exact cost, but said it would cost north of $5 million to cover renovations, equipment and staffing. The old Western Memorial Regional Hospital closed to patients in June, but will be renovated in the coming months to house 45 care beds across two floors. (Geoff Bartlett/CBC) Parfrey said 30 of those beds will initially be reserved for those waiting for space in a long-term care facility, but he hopes to shrink that number over time and transition the beds into more alternative care beds. "If you had to build [a facility], it would take five years. So it seems entirely logical that if you're in it nine months ago, it will have deteriorated a bit but you can renovate that. It seems entirely logical to use it for an interim purpose," he said. "We have a challenge to meet dealing with frailty in this region.… I strongly believe that we need to go along that track." Parfrey said he believes the model being brought to Corner Brook can work in other regions, pointing to the use of 20 care beds at the Chancellor Park care facility in St. John's. Forty-six per cent of the 50 patients admitted to those beds in the last six months were able to go home, he said, while just eight per cent had to be admitted into long-term care. The success of the program is prompting the purchase of another 20 beds in that facility. "[It's] not a medicalized model, its a mobility model. So that's the type of thought processes that are being extrapolated to western [Newfoundland]," Parfrey said. Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.
