The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Wednesday January 5, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER A3 Hospitals get passing grade from OHA By Irene Gentle SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Halton Healthcare Services (HHS) has been given a clean bill of health in a recently released hospital report card. The report rated HHS as average or better in virtually all categories despite the obstacles caused by last year's amal gamation of the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) and Milton District Hospital (MDH). About 80% of the rated hospitals fell in the average category. Hospital staff deserve a pat on the back for their contributions to the good rating, said HHS president and CEO Roger Sharman. "I think we compare very well," he said. "We haven't gone backwards at all in this amalgamation." Compiled by the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA), the Hospital Report `99 rated 89 hospitals, hospital corpora tions or groups of hospitals in four areas. They were patient satisfaction, finan cial performance and condition, clinical utilization and outcomes, and system integration and change. The report is meaningful because it's the first to compare the performances of Ontario hospitals, said HHS public rela tions manager Trish Carlton. "It's apples to apples," she said. `W e're very happy with it." But one area of concern is the length of stay of stroke patients, the report showed. That problem has already been addressed with the September, 1999 opening of a new rehabilitation unit at the Oakville site, said Sharman. Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital and Milton receive average or higher marks from Ontario Hospital Association `T hat certainly will take care of that," he said. "That's the area we're obviously focusing on." A March release of a follow-up tech nical report by the OHA will provide greater details on how HHS fared in the score card. "It's a work in progress," said Sharman. "We'll be working to make a good report an excellent one." But a thumbs up in patient satisfaction is particularly pleasing, he added. "As you know, it hasn't been easy with the amalgamation," said Sharman. "We didn't want to be one of those hos pitals which are having to defend them selves." Staff should be proud of the report O T M H n o l o n g e r card results, said HHS board of directors chair Christa Wessel. "Halton Healthcare Services had some of the highest scores in the GTA in the patient satisfaction category," she said. "This is a significant achievement in these challenging times. The results are a credit to the staff, physicians and volunteers at both hospital sites." The report inspired spontaneous applause from HHS staff when its results were announced last Thursday, said Carlton. "It's something the staff have been really pleased with." The report showed HHS performed above average in the low readmission rates of asthma patients and the use of L if e lin e p r o v i d e r Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital is no longer the authorized provider o f Personal Response Services in Halton Region. Lifeline Personal Response and Support Services are available from the Halton Region Lifeline Program at 905-632-7383 or 1-888-339-6599. It is important to note that subscribers from the Oakville-Trafalgar M emorial Hospital are no longer Lifeline subscribers but those who wish to retain the Lifeline service, can call Halton Region Lifeline to upgrade their service free of charge. Under the Lifeline program, when subscribers need to call for help, they simply press their Personal Help Button, which is worn as a dis crete pendant or wristband. This acti vates a communicator phone in their home which connects them with Lifeline's staff. You can contact Halton Region Lifeline at 905-632-7383 or 1-888339-6599. Or you can check out their website at www.lifelinecanada.com. clinical data, strategies for alternate level of care patients and in the housekeeping portion"of the patient satisfaction class. And HHS will continue to work towards top notch care, said Sharman. "We know there's still a lot more we can do," he said. Streamlining Oakville's hectic emer gency department is high on the priority list. "We're very concerned that people are waiting three or four hours (in noncritical cases)," he said. And putting ambulances on redirect to other hospitals when the emergency room is snowed under is becoming an unpleasant reality at the site, said Sharman. "It used to be a rarity," he said. HHS will also attempt to ensure that hospital stays are the appropriate length for patients. "Certain lengths of stay can be too short," said Sharman. "I think the opti. mal length of stay is what we're looking for." And purchasing technology to improve patient care is an pricey part of the 2000-2001 to-do list. "Looking at the equipment list for next year, it's long and really quite expensive," he said. This year, the hospital report focused on medical/surgical categories. But others, such as obstetrics and mental health, will likely be added over time, said Carlton. The report will eventually work out its kinks to become an even better guide in the future, predicted Sharman. "I think each year you'll seethe report get stronger," he said. DID YOU OVERSTOCK FOR Y2K?? The Salvation Arm y can help you with your storage problem by making it available to your neighbours in O akville who never have enough on their shelves. Phone - 8 2 7 - 5 3 2 4 827-6523 Fax - 8 2 7 - 8 7 3 6 1225 Rebecca Street Oakville E-mail ray.braddock @sallynet.org Police in running for community award H a l t o n Regional Police, and its focus on community polic ing, has been named a semi finalist for the Webber Seavey Award for Quality L a w Enforcement. Halton's entry for the award was its TIP (Total Integrated Policing) pro gram, an initiative which uses an "umbrella" model which empha sizes that commu nity policing is a philosophy, not a specific program. This, say senior staff, has resulted in the lowest crime rate in Canada for a region of its size (340,000 people), even as Halton's d e m o g ra p h ic s have changed rapidly during the last decade. In a letter to Halton Police Chief Ean Algar, Motorola Inc. senior vice-presi dent and general manager Jim Sarallo wrote, "Your program is an example of the outstanding work being done in law e n fo rc e m e n t today... You are to be commended for your dedica tion to the com munity as well as the law enforce ment profession." Motorola is the corporate sponsor o f the award, named after Webber S. Seavy, first president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. It promotes and recognizes quality performance by agencies around the world. TIP was creat ed following extensive consul tation with the community and front line officers to adopt a consta ble-centred team approach across Halton's entire o rg a n iz a tio n . Since its imple mentation, overall crime rates have dropped each year while robberies, break and enters and auto thefts have shown a steady decrease. A L L R E A S O N A B L E O F F E R S W IL L B E A C C E P T E D Oakville Dodge Chrysler Jeep BO XIN GW E I* C O N T IN U E S l » v \ . EM|j$ JANUARY IM S ® ' § WE MY YOUR GST U U -i PLUS GIVE YOU $500 R E B A T E NO PAYMENTS FOR 90 DAY 9 FMAHONG AS LOWAS 0 %' r£ z JF Oakville Dodge will deduct 7% off sale price. GST credit and $500 rebate cannot be combined with low finance rates. 0% available on Neons up to 60 mos. See us for details. This sale cannot be combined with previous sales and applies to in stock vehicles only. M ULEN M IUM M A D N E S S PECKS OF THE W E EK ! 9 5 CHB f C t Fully, fully loaded!! T-Toos Too!! Fire Engine Red!! Nice low K's!! A True Showstopoer! You get all of the above Plus a ridiculously low off season price!! $40 QQQI '94 CHEV CAVALIER 4-DR. S om epacteaee h ? Full price only Automatic!! Air Conditioned!! Low original K's!! loaded" Only M OM tons!! Slmn ^.Tiis is surety the Flagship Absolutely (lawless! Oh. by the way, for a Christmas gift to lip of the Lexus Flee Fleet, and I sells brand new" for ckq you, this one has a tree 6 cylinder engine!! t C g g g I Our` as brand Grab it fast'! h .H H H new" full price only '97 LEXUS LX 450 J" 1 R E D U C E D M F I R M 1 V/6, auto, AWFM cass., air, cruise, tilt, P/W, P/L mags, big radials, bush bar, tubular runnmgboartfs, fog lites, simply nothino a!! This gem has js m m a f le m l X J in n '91 GMC JIMMY SLX 4X4 ,, ^ I I I | Fully. Fully loaded! Leather & slider too!! Looks & runs perfect!1 This gorgeous luxury import is all black outside. has absolutely no rust, and was just traded in ···< I by a mature gentleman wtio taaliy cared lo r it! 4 ) * l U U I J 760 TURBO INTERCOOLER 4-DOOR 93 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE LIMITED 4X4 ·ullv. fulfr loaded!! V-8 engine too! Flawless!!! The K's | are good, the color's the best (dark green), the car is senFull price only '99 FORD ESCORT SE WAGON '94 FORD EXPLORER XLT 4X4 1 5 speed! Fully loaded1Only 66.000 Km s!!! The 5 speed's I unique and the combination of as new condition and ultra-low 1 K's is simolv irreplaceable! Check it out! T i c on 1 5 speed! Air conditioned! Only 28,000 K's!! Showroom tresh! Want to save an easvSS.OOO from brand new? '94 VOLVO 850 4-DR. 1 5 cyt,, auto, AAA/FMcass., air, cruise, tilt, P/W, P/C, heated seats and I much, much more! The car is perfect, the K's are low and the price is | ridiculous^ low'! Save at least COCO. QQQI 7-passennhers!! Absolutely tiillv loaded!! Very low km!! Emerald green & ooroeous!! There may be a tew others F iii price onlv AS T R A D E W '9 4 GRAND CARAVAN ES mm Full orice onlv *12,9001 | DodgeTrucks OAKVILLE DODGE CHRYSLER 6 4 6 4 th L in e , S p e e r s R o a d , O a k v ille w w w .oakvilled odge.com Q.E.W. Speers Rd. --I £ E 845-4211 I 1