Northumberland Hills Hospital. /NHH Facebook photo
Northumberland Hills Hospital (NHH) has launched a new emergency department wait-time dashboard, giving residents real-time visibility into ER wait times and patient volumes, say officials.
The dashboard went live Dec. 3 on nhh.ca and is also visible in the waiting room for those arriving onsite.
NHH President and CEO Susan Walsh said the tool supports the hospital’s strategic plan and experience framework by improving transparency and helping people prepare for emergency-care wait times.
The dashboard displays average time patients are waiting to see a provider, the number of patients currently in the ED, how many are waiting for in-patient beds, and typical wait-time trends by hour. The design was completed by an interdisciplinary team including ED staff, physicians, volunteers and partners at Peterborough Regional Health Centre, which launched a similar dashboard the week prior, say staff.
NHH emphasizes that wait-time data reflects general volume and flow, not a total expected stay for any individual patient. Emergency department care is always delivered based on medical priority, which means urgent and critical patients are treated first, add officials.
Wait-times may also change suddenly due to major or high-volume incidents.
Alongside the dashboard, the hospital has implemented a new self arrival kiosk for ER patients, allowing them to register electronically upon arrival. Those who prefer not to use the kiosk remain fully supported by registration staff and ED volunteers, says the hospital.
Northumberland Hills Hospital serves a catchment of about 67,000 residents across west Northumberland County, including Cobourg, Port Hope, Alderville First Nation and surrounding townships. The hospital employs more than 850 staff and offers a full range of emergency, acute outpatient and diagnostic services, including MRI, CT and mammography.
(Written by: Joseph Goden)
