Overdose cases increase dramatically
Not surprisingly the staff at Belleville General Hospital is right in the thick of things when it comes to dealing with the city’s much publicized opioid crisis.
Tuesday Quinte Health’s Board of Directors saw statistics showing that in just the first two months of this year there were 77 visits to the emergency department for treatment of drug overdose.
That compares to just 24 visits in the first two months of last year.
Hospital administration continues to work with other organizations in the community to streamline response and treatment of toxic drug overdoses and are introducing addictions care expertise to their medical teams along with reserving beds for the treatment of individuals with addictions problems.
Recruitment efforts paying off
There’s never enough when it comes to health care staff in hospitals and elsewhere these days but new strategies to recruit more medical staff appears to be working for Quinte Health.
President of Quinte Health Stacey Daub told a meeting of the Board of Directors Tuesday that a focus on new graduates and internationally-educated professionals is bringing much needed staff to the organization’s four hospitals.
So far this fiscal year 444 new staff, 263 of them permanent, have been hired and 62 new part-time doctors have joined Quinte Health.
Retention efforts have led to a lower voluntary staff turnover rate as well. Daub singled out Loyalist College as an excellent source for nursing staff.
Fundraising for new Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital enters the home stretch
“We all know the toughest job is ahead. The next phase will require the dedication, energy, and commitment of all of us, the board, the staff, our campaign volunteers, our donors, our stakeholders, our county residents, and of course Quinte Health.”
He’s not on the medical team at Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital but his work is vital to the well-being of everyone there.
The hospital’s full-time maintenance team member Joe McKenzie was presented with the Values in Action Award by Quinte Health’s Board of Directors Tuesday.
As staff and residents alike wait for a new hospital in Picton, McKenzie was recognized for going above and beyond the call of duty to make the repairs to the many problems that spring up in a 65-year-old building.
McKenzie was said to “know every nook and cranny of the hospital, from the rooftop to the crawl space.”
