The Hospital’s orthopaedic surgery program has been recognized for providing timely access to the highest quality hip and knee replacements

The KDH Team at HealthAchieve, left to right: Catherine Van Vliet, Colin Goodfellow, Cathy Watson, Janet York-Lowry

The Total Joint Replacement (TJR) program at Kemptville District Hospital (KDH) has achieved Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) designation as a “Leading Practice for Improving Access to Care”. KDH is one of a handful of hospitals recognized for its leadership in improving healthcare.

KDH has emerged as an Ontario Leading Practice site as a result of designing its orthopaedic program to be both patient-centred and cost effective. In addition, with this program KDH demonstrates its organization-wide commitment to being part of the wait-time solution as well as its collaborative approach: the program was developed in partnership with the Community Care Access Centre, The Ottawa Hospital and the Champlain LHIN.

The KDH TJR program demonstrates the role that a small hospital can play within a regional program and within the health system itself.

KDH has been invited to participate in the 2012 Leading Practices Poster Display at HealthAchieve, the OHA’s annual conference taking place this year in Toronto November 5 to 7. One of the largest healthcare gatherings in North America, HealthAchieve attracts approximately 7,000 healthcare and business leaders from around the world. The KDH TJR program was selected from over 150 abstracts submitted by healthcare institutions across North America.

KDH’s CEO, Colin Goodfellow, and Director of Patient Services & Integration, Catherine Van Vliet, will be on hand at HealthAchieve along with Cathy Watson, Manager of Clinical Programs, and Janet York Lowry, TJR Coordinator. The team will share details with other healthcare leaders about the success of their hospital’s orthopaedic surgery program.

The TJR program at KDH commenced October 17, 2011 with the first four total primary knee replacement surgeries successfully completed. In the first four months, 95 total and hemi knee replacement surgeries were completed and in April 2012 total hip replacements were added to the program.

The TJR program has achieved a significant reduction in wait times, demonstrating the lowest wait times in the Champlain LHIN from November 2011 to January 2012. Patient testimonials indicate that patients appreciate the small hospital experience. KDH was also able to achieve a reduction in the average length of stay from the industry norm of three to five days to an average of two days.

This program aligns with the OHA Position Statement on health system restructuring proposing that small hospitals can be value added process institutions where repeatable procedures can be done efficiently, reliably and at a low cost.

The addition of hip replacements reduces wait times for patients throughout the region and cuts down on overcrowding in The Ottawa Hospital

The first two hip replacement patients at KDH: Bryne Nuttall (left) and Maureen Mindach cut a celebratory cake while KDH Auxiliary volunteers Catherine Brunton (left) and Louise Tallman look on

Surgeons at Kemptville District Hospital (KDH) performed hip replacement surgery there for the first time this week, thanks to an expansion of the hospital’s orthopaedic surgery program.

This week’s recipients of new hips are patients of orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Joseph O’Neil, who operates at The Ottawa Hospital as well as at KDH, in an innovative partnership between the two hospitals that began last October. The partnership sees a roster of surgeons from both hospitals performing joint replacement procedures in Kemptville Hospital’s state of the art operating facilities, reducing wait times for patients throughout the region and cutting down on overcrowding in The Ottawa Hospital.

For the first hip replacement patients, having their surgery at KDH meant the constant pain is gone now, rather than months from now. It also meant experiencing a type of patient-focused care many have described as being treated like a member of the family. For Kemptville area residents, having orthopaedic surgery at KDH means care close to home, a goal of hospitals across the country.

Maureen Mindach was the first recipient of a new hip at KDH. She chose to have her operation in Kemptville rather than wait for a surgery date in Ottawa. Two days after her hip replacement, she reported no pain at all, only mild discomfort when standing. She found the staff at KDH “wonderful, very knowledgeable, and very helpful.” She also appreciated the contribution of Catherine Brunton, a volunteer with the KDH Auxiliary who spends time with total joint replacement patients at the PAU (Pre-Assessment) clinic as well as on the nursing unit post surgery.

Bryne Nuttall also received a new hip this week at KDH. His relief was tremendous, after living with the pain of osteoarthritis for four years. He expressed pleasure with his experience at KDH while enjoying a special cake brought in to celebrate the start of this new phase of the total joint replacement program.

Lowell “Bubba” Smith from Orleans had a total knee replacement this week. He also reported “very little, if any” pain. 24 hours after surgery he had already had two physiotherapy sessions, walking with the aid of a walker. He commented that he was “impressed with the facility and the people” and appreciated the “personal approach” of the hospital staff.

The day after their surgery, hip and knee replacement patients at KDH are helped out of bed by their physiotherapists, and begin the exercises they will continue for at least six weeks. The following day, after several walking sessions and practice on stairs, they are ready to be discharged. Tanya Collins is the newest Physiotherapist on the KDH team. She credits the preparation the patients receive at KDH with their speedy recovery. “The patients are extremely well prepared for surgery; they are motivated, and as a result they are up and moving very quickly,” she said. “They are set up to succeed,” she added.

Cathy Watson, Manager of Clinical Programs, believes that the pain management practices in place at KDH also help to speed recovery for joint replacement patients. While still in the OR, they receive a ‘cocktail’ of anti-inflammatories and pain medication that is administered into the affected joint. This combination is less sedating than the patient-controlled intravenous narcotics that are often used after joint replacement surgery. As a result, she explains, patients are up and moving sooner.

The addition of hip replacements to the orthopaedic surgery program at KDH meant the hiring of Occupational Therapists as well as additional Physiotherapists, and further training at The Ottawa Hospital. “There’s a lot more instrumentation with hip replacements,” explained KDH scrub nurse Linda Morton. She and the other scrub nurses participated in hip replacement surgery at The Ottawa Hospital. When the time came for the first hip replacements at KDH, “We were well organized and ready, and it went off without a hitch,” she stated.

KDH is one of only a handful of small community hospitals in North America performing this type of surgery. The hospital has a substantial capacity to perform joint replacement surgeries, and is not yet at capacity. KDH’s own orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Paul Shim, is accepting patients. People looking to have a knee or hip replacement performed at KDH or who are currently on a wait list but would like the procedure done sooner can have their family physicians fax a referral to the hospital at 613.258.8643.

Kemptville Hospital CEO Colin Goodfellow (left), and well-known orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Geoffrey Dervin, who performs surgery at both Kemptville Hospital and The Ottawa Hospital

In the same week that its 100th orthopaedic surgery patient received her new knee, Kemptville District Hospital has released a video celebrating the launch of the program in late 2011, when it became one of a handful of small hospitals in North America performing this type of surgery. The entire organization had worked together to bring the program to launch in six short months. In the process, Kemptville Hospital had been transformed.

The new Total Joint Replacement program is an innovative partnership between this small rural hospital and one of the largest teaching hospitals in Canada: The Ottawa Hospital. The program sees surgeons from The Ottawa Hospital performing joint replacement procedures in Kemptville Hospital’s state of the art operating facilities, reducing wait times for patients throughout the region and cutting down on overcrowding in The Ottawa Hospital. Knee recipients in Kemptville have appreciated the patient-focused care; the hospital consistently ranks among the top hospitals in Ontario for both patient and employee satisfaction.

To make the video, titled “Kemptville Hospital: A Different Organization Now”, a group of 20 staff, administrators, physicians and volunteers sat down to talk about their experiences in preparing for the new inpatient surgical program. The video celebrates the sense of joy and accomplishment that permeated the hospital the day the first knee replacement surgeries were performed. It also speaks to the power available to an organization, and in fact to an entire system, when good people are happy to work together to build healthier communities. Kemptville Hospital staff recognized that as a small organization they had the potential to help solve a big problem, the problem of long wait times for this type of surgery. The video demonstrates how the people at Kemptville Hospital embraced the opportunity to be a different kind of small hospital, and how it felt to be engaged in meeting a system-wide challenge.

More than 100 staff and friends of Kemptville Hospital gathered for the live release of the video at a celebration of the new surgical program, held at the hospital on March 7.