Watch above: Alberta Health Services is trying a new approach to improve the flow of patients in emergency departments. New rapid transfer units will be introduced at a couple of Edmonton hospitals as part of a new pilot project. Kent Morrison has the details.
EDMONTON — Alberta Health Services has announced a pilot project that will create what are called rapid transfer units. Their purpose will be to free up space in Edmonton’s emergency rooms, and reduce the amount of time EMS crews spend waiting for patients to be admitted.
“We need our EMS crews out in their communities responding to emergency 911 calls,” said Vickie Kaminski, AHS President and CEO.
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“The new system will help get paramedics and other EMS providers back on the road soon after they bring their patients to emergency departments.”
The rapid transfer units will be implemented at the University of Alberta and Royal Alexandra hospitals. They will include eight to 15 beds, dedicated EMS stretcher capacity, as well as additional clinical staff.
The spaces will cater to patients who need to be admitted to hospital, are awaiting an inter-facility transfer, or have been cleared to leave hospital but still need to be discharged.
The two-unit project will be implemented over the next six weeks and monitored for five months. At the end of the five months, AHS will decide whether the program is worth implementing throughout the whole province.
To improve efficiencies at other Edmonton and Calgary hospitals, one EMS crew will look after two to three patients, whenever possible, as opposed to multiple EMS crews tending to a single patient. This will allow more ambulances to return to the road.
“These changes, along with the recently announced additional continuing care beds, will help improve overall access to care in our emergency rooms and help ensure our resources are used where they are needed most,” says Health Minister Stephen Mandel.
The pilot project will cost $2.1 million and will come from AHS’ existing budget.
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