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 Ray Green was the first patient in the new hospital and his wife, Beth, was the first patient visitor. The hospital has designed a new method of dealing with walk-in patients that promises a better method of health care than at the old building. - photo courtesy Inuvik Regional Hospital |
The new hospital was designed to provide more personalized care to clients through continuity of care, by splitting emergency and walk-in patients.
Dr. Gerry Uswak, chief executive officer of Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services, said the new building was designed with better patient care in mind.
"There was input from staff and people from the health authority who looked at a better way to deliver the service," Uswak said.
The new system will have patients seeing their own "family doctor" as opposed to seeing whoever is on call so that any follow-up visits can be handled with a minimum of confusion.
"A patient won't have to think about who they saw the last time," he explained.
"When ever they present to the clerk at the front they will know who they are to see."
"It used to be that you'd come to out patients and you'd see one doctor and the next time, you'd see another doctor and there was no continuity of care."
With notes written by another doctor and information based on a patient's memory, the level of care was inconsistent at the old building.
The new method will allow a more personalized method of health care delivery, Uswak said.
"They get to know you as a person and more about you in a holistic approach, so that when they follow-up, they understand your condition," he said.
The system will also streamline the hospital administration system so they can use the computer to store client information to speed their service, while improving the efficiency of hospital's billing.
What used to be for outpatients is two separate areas now.
The emergency area is designated for acute emergency treatment only while the clinics will handle non-emergency medical conditions.
"The whole intent is to eliminate walk-ins for anything other than real emergencies," Uswak said.
The two departments has caused some confusion among both clients and medical staff, but Uswak urges patients to be patient.
"We're still working out some bugs in the system, but if we all work together, we can make it work," he said. "
