Cornwall ON – Schools are controlled by school boards, hospitals are controlled by hospital boards and that is where we must start our close look at what is happening in our Cornwall Community Hospital. We must start with the hospital board for this hospital board appears to be functioning as a typical Cornwall parochial group just sitting and talking, talking, talking but doing very little constructively. The public complaining about high taxes or inadequate hospital services should look at reality.
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Let us just take a peek at welfare of the client, the visitors and the staff. Imagine you are in the Cornwall Community Hospital, it is an evening, a week-end or a public holiday and you would like a good bowl of soup with a freshly made sandwich, a cup of coffee, tea or a hot chocolate. In our hospital this is simply not possible. You might wander around and find a machine dispensing pre-packaged sandwiches that are rarely attractive.
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You might find a machine that dispenses, along with bottled water, unhealthy soda drinks or another that dispenses chocolate bars and chips. Guess what, these machines are in the emergency area dispensing goods that are mainly frowned upon by sound health organizations – and this is all that is available for much of the time in our hospital!
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Let us look at another scenario, one in which I am an emergency specialist doctor or a well qualified nurse. I am looking for a new work position and I am visiting Cornwall with that in mind. After looking at the facilities afforded the professional medical folk I would simply walk away for there must be many good openings for medical folk that have, as a bare minimum, good facilities providing sustenance and rest away from the job for a short time. The city may set up all the search committees it desires but they are just wasting taxpayers’ money because who would want to work in such a human resource starved hospital?
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Of course, the board or the administration will trot out the excuse they are in the construction phase and that creates its own problems. Without doubt the transition stage in construction will cause many problems and some severe headaches but that is why we pay a CEO to do the job. We should expect nothing less from our hospital board members. I wonder when was the last time either the top administration or the board members ventured down into the bowels of the hospital where the action is?
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When was the last time they looked into the wards, spent time in the emergency department or the laboratories? When was the last time any of these people spent fifteen minutes at admissions in emergency? I wonder if they would even be able to find these locations.
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If these folk would simply station themselves at the entrance doors to the hospital they would have a hard time counting all the people who come into the establishment carrying a tray of Tim Horton’s coffee. This coffee is not just for the patients, families or caregivers it is also for the staff. If that is what the public wants why can’t their needs be served in the hospital?
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This scenario should send a clear message to those making the decisions. But, of course, the people who make decisions first have to see the need. The Cornwall Community Hospital needs to follow the lead of the Ottawa hospitals and arrange for a Tim Horton outlet to be included in the new hospital set-up. This decision should be taken NOW while the construction work is under way and not AFTER the construction crews have left.
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It is always important to give impressions from what one has personally experienced. I can recall, earlier this year, going to the Cornwall Community Hospital in an emergency situation – at a week-end. The medical attention I received was superb with a good triage nurse, who was directing situations as they arose, and an excellent doctor, who thoroughly explained his findings in such a way I had no difficulty understanding my circumstances. The problem lay in my having to wait to see these excellent people and what was available to help me pass the time. I desperately wanted a coffee but that was not available and I dare not leave the hospital because I might lose my place in the waiting line or cause the doctor unnecessary difficulties.
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I exercised my prerogative and waited, suffering the lack of refreshment that would have made my wait more reasonable. Idle conversation with other patients and caregivers produced expressions of the same unhappiness with the lack of facilities. Even though, in discussion, I made the observation that the hospital was still under construction, the point was clearly made this hospital has never considered the non-medical needs of people. Sure there are dedicated volunteers, a hospital cafeteria and an excellent auxilliary. But when is the cafeteria open or the auxilliary in attendance at their gift shop? Certainly not during holidays, in the evenings or at week-ends. Accidents and illness have no timetable so the services offered to those using the hospital should be available whenever there is a need, 24/7.
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I know it is easy to complain about what is not being done but unless we, the public, speak up then there will be no improvements in the services available to staff, clients and visitors. It would seem the simple resolution is for the CEO or the Board to get into consultation with Tim Hortons to see what is required for them to install a facility in the hospital. To be sure I am not taking sides with a particular commercial entity but observation shows, by what they bring in themselves, just what the public and the staff choose and Tim Horton wins hands down.
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I wonder why it is that the public can see the deficiency and the hospital board and its administrators are blind to what is needed? I am sure it would not cost the hospital any of its much needed funds to have such a facility and, if my experience with this commercial entity is anything to go by, Tim Hortons is a very generous company that takes into account, first, the public need. Someone just has to talk, then do the necessary homework to find out what it would take to get such a service facility in our community hospital. The hospital is not there so that a CEO can get a good salary or to give some selected members of the public a place to sit and shoot the breeze. It is there to provide a total experience for those in need of medical help – and to treat the visitors and staff in a like manner.
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The hospital administators and the hospital board seem to have forgotten why they are there. It is not just for the patient but also those giving the sick and injured the care that is needed. Everyone in this process, whether a patient, a nurse, a doctor, a family member, a care-giver or a volunteer, needs a modicum of service that goes beyond the highly proficient medical care elements that make up a hospital environment.
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It’s time for those making the decisions to wake up and make life a little more pleasant for everyone in the medical community and the public they are supposed to be serving.
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John E. Milnes,
South Stormont
(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of the Cornwall Free News, their staff, or sponsors.)
Excellent article John, after reading your topic (headline) I was expecting something quite different . lol Should we expect a new “Timmy’s” before next years “ROLL up the RIM” promotion ?
John, you make an excellent point about the Hospital Board. Part of their problem could probably be solved by having an elected hospital board, in the same way we have elected school boards. However, given what our “elected” city council comes up with, maybe not, unless we want the hospital board to have ergonomic chairs.
Perhaps if hospitals were funded on a fee-for-service basis (so much for setting a broken leg, so much for delivering a baby, so much for removing an appendix, etc.) there would be an actual incentive to provide fast and efficient patient care. And to ensure efficiency, administration should be paid a (small) percentage of the hospital’s income. The more successful medical outcomes, the more you get paid at the end of the month.
You’re also right about the food(?) facilities. However, a Tim Hortons? Two chocolate donuts and a double-double? Hardly what you would call “heart-healthy.” But then again, maybe there is a method in this madness. On a fee-for-service basis, how much would the hospital make for a quadruple bypass, or for weight-loss surgery?
By the way, would we also get a drive-thru?
I suppose Tim Hortons is better than nothing at all……hmmm, maybe not.
There must be a few unemployed kitchen minded people in Cornwall, why not be the team leader or spokesperson. I am thinking you or someone could organize a team, present a plan, and sell fresh food at select times 7 days a week.That would be better than a franchise and provide decent jobs.
I am already working full time and volunteer to a couple of things so could not.
Eric: That is precisely why this community has failed to grow over the years, parochial thinking. At 79 years of age I find I am fully occupied just writing my LTE’s, occasional columns and the book I am in the process of having published. Let me explain I do NOT write to gain notoriety but rather to promote thinking on a variety of subjects. What is so wrong in providing a franchise for something the public desires? The public must desire this product for people constantly flood into the hospital with the product. Perhaps you would prefer an American company to provide the services!
Chip machines or Tim Horton’s’ not sure which is unhealthier John. But I can relate a situation
A family member was taken into the hospital via ambulance, medical staff was superb however ; The hour was early evening and the diagnosis was inconclusive making an overnight stay necessary. The person had not eaten since prior ro noon and asked for a drink and something to eat. There was nothing the kitchen was closed, there was nothing in the fridge. The staff managed to put together some pieces of lunches provide a light snack.
Kudos to the nurses and staff on the floor but when you sit in an office reading numbers it is difficult to see what they represent.
Eric
Your idea is a great one but having friends once working for Glen Services it is not that simple. Following a christmas dinner it was proposed to donate the left over dishes to agape or similiar services. It was disallowed on both fronts for insurance and health concerns
All thus debate seems to circle around food. It is the coffee that is at the centre of the need. Let us please smell the coffee.
Maybe if we quit consuming Tim Horton’s coffee almost intravenously, or provided junk food in vending machines as staple….the hospital lines would decrease.
But then again we have the right to be a pig and hold others responsible for our indiscretions
Mr Milnes, I enjoy your writing and learn from it, let us know when the book is ready for purchase.
I have no issue with an American chain providing a service, I prefer local, then provincial and then Canadian products when possible as well. From ideas such as yours, other ideas and business can come from them. So often we are told why we can not do something or it has been done before that we under achieve or give up. People in this commuinty need work, there is an opportunity and someone should run with it.
Providing a livelyhood for your family and self satisfaction can make it worth trying, again and again.
I remember a clothing reseller from Montreal in the 70’s that would fill his station wagon and sell to remote parts of Eastern Ontario. Sometimes you have to take an extra step to sidestep the naysayers.