Bringing Them Home

Vancouver sets up same-night care post hospital discharge

The Vancouver Care Manager received a call from a client’s daughter stating client and whole family are extremely happy and satisfied with Bayshore Home Health. They appreciate the very quick response to their request for service. The much needed urgent care post-discharge was set up same night with no delay or hesitation after hours. Consistent caregiver scheduled and client’s daughter stated that the caregiver has been following care plan plus instructions as discussed and per expectation. Moreover, she treats client “like a human being” and is “respectful”.

Transitional care partnership in Kingston

Kingston Health Sciences Centre and Bayshore HealthCare have partnered to meet the needs of seniors in the Kingston community by providing the right care and services in the right setting. We are pleased to have introduced a transitional care program to provide much needed relief for the surge of patients at Kingston General Hospital, enabling them to serve patients in need of acute services, particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are currently 12 patients from KHSC staying at Trillium Retirement as part of this program. All infection control practices are in place and there is vigilant health monitoring of all residents. In addition, all new residents moving in are isolated for 14 days with their temperatures checked twice a day as per public health directives. No COVID-19 positive patients will be admitted to Trillium.

Timmins MCP helps client pass peacefully at home

Timmins has been the “hot-spot” for the North which caused the hospital to begin the decanting process. The Manager of Clinical Practice in Bayshore’s Timmins office, got a direct referral from the hospital for a palliative case Wednesday afternoon to begin care the following day. As a result of the COVID crisis, there were no caregivers other than the MCP available, and of course, as she always does, she agreed to take the patient on and do whatever it takes to assist the client and family. She was involved in the case and completed visits for the next four days, through the weekend until the patient passed away on Sunday. The client’s son, who, even in his difficult times, wanted to ensure that he passed along what an incredible job the MCP had done with his father. He expressed sincere gratitude for her being with his father, allowing him to return home, be with his family, and pass away peacefully at home.

Stepping in to make breakfast for all

One morning recently, the Integrated Care Solutions (ICS) branch received a call from our staff at one of our local transitional care programs. This program operates within a local retirement home where meals are provided by the home outside of our (ICS) usual services. Due to an outbreak in this retirement home, the retirement home staff had almost all refused to come to work that day. As of nine am that morning, the patients and retirement home residents did not have any breakfast. ICS Senior Manager Stacy and Clinical Coordinator Marion stepped in to help. Stacey went to a nearby grocery story to purchase a large quantity of food for breakfast. Stacey, Marion and the ICS staff then proceeded to provide breakfast for the residents by 10 am. They all made a difference to not only our ICS patients but also the residents during this very difficult time!

Outstanding service provided by Bayshore Home Health Saskatoon Branch team

The team at Bayshore Home Health Saskatoon recently showed exemplary service for a family that was faced with an extremely stressful and difficult situation. On Tuesday April 28, 2020, Bayshore Home Health Saskatoon branch received a phone call at approximately 2:00pm from the son of an elderly couple who was in a dire situation and in urgent need of care for his mother.

The couple resides in an independent living facility an hour outside of Saskatoon. The husband is the primary caregiver for his wife, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Dementia, and as a result can not be safely left alone. The husband had a sudden medical emergency and had to be rushed to hospital and admitted for treatment. Due to Covid-19 and the resulting visitor restrictions in the independent living facility in which the couple reside, the family was unable to go in and care for their mother. The son reached out to Bayshore Home Health, explaining the urgency of the situation, and inquired about 24 hour care for his mother, which needed to start that evening.

Bayshore Home Health Saskatoon’s Manager of Clinical Practice was just completing a nursing visit with another Bayshore client, when she received the message regarding the urgent request for service. The MCP returned to the Bayshore office at approximately 2:30pm and consulted with the team at Bayshore to get service set up and staffing in place in order to assist the family in their urgent need for 24 hour care. The MCP also consulted with the client’s Independent Living Facility Director to allow Bayshore staff access to the facility in order to provide the necessary care for the client. Within an hour and a half of receiving the call, the care plan was completed and delivered to the Personal Support Worker that was going to be starting the care that evening. The Bayshore PSW was at the client’s residence, which is an hour away, and started service at 7:00pm that evening.

The family was extremely grateful and relieved. The son stated, “You are the only ones who helped us out with this situation. We can’t thank you enough!”

Team effort to ease patient pain

A call was received on a Tuesday night at around 10 pm for an urgent infusion – required the very next day. The home visit confirmed with caller’s daughter for 9 am the next morning. During initial call, the daughter stated they will be ordering necessary supplies from local pharmacy. Our Client, diagnosed with end stage pancreatic cancer, was unable to keep food or fluids down, deteriorating and dehydrated. Client was advised by the local hospital to avoid coming in and try to arrange this service privately in own home.

We contacted a nurse trained on IV Therapy and placed her on standby and ready for next day service. The next morning our MCP completed the assessment with the family. The daughter called their family’s pharmacy, but due to COVID-19 – were out of supplies. We assisted in calling other pharmacies, but none had any supplies that day. The Vancouver Infusion Clinic was closed that day, however we contacted the Infusion Clinic Manager who ultimately authorized supplies to be picked up from the Surrey Infusion Clinic Location – and to confirm availability prior to pick up. We drove one hour round trip to obtain adequate supplies and delivered to client’s home, in time for service start that same morning at 11 am. Our nurse, was able to start this urgent service, on very short notice, in the comfort of the client’s own home. The whole team came together in time of need!

New Brunswick starts new home infusion patient with unique assessment process

An infusion nurse in New Brunswick figured out a way to start a new patient on her infusion treatment! The patient was nervous to have a stranger in the home during this pandemic, and the nurse was also nervous to see a new patient, not knowing the patient’s lifestyle and living habits. The nurse parked in the driveway, did the pre assessment questions over the phone from the driveway of the patient home, injected the patient at the entrance way and then parked in the driveway and monitored the patient over the phone. The patient’s spouse was present during the entire process, so even though the nurse was “monitoring” over the phone from her car, the patient was not physically alone. This innovative visit with limited contact put the patient at ease and she was really appreciative!

Urgent referral and delivery shows dedication to pediatric patient care

One of our Pediatric Oncology patients came to us as an urgent referral from Manulife on a Friday afternoon. This patient had to have their medication for an appointment early Monday morning. After the patient spoke with their Nurse Case Manager and the file was reviewed by their Reimbursement Specialist it was sent as an urgent request. Penelope M., our Clinical Manager at the Manulife Specialty Drug Care Program, stepped up and offered to drive from her home in Burlington to Markham to pick up the medication and then delivered it to the patient in Niagara Falls. All so this child would not miss their dose.

Bayshore and major infusion providers partner to ensure continuity of care

Bayshore’s Director of Nursing in Quebec, organized a task force with three other major infusion providers in Canada, in order to take on each other’s clients so that no one patient will miss a visit. “We are normally competitors, however I am so impressed that our patients are at the heart of our decisions and we have agreed to support each other to ensure continuity of care. We continue to meet each week and help each other with important issues, such as lobbying local provincial government which has allowed all infusion clinics to be named an essential service.”

Northern Nurse adds COVID teaching to her daily work

One of our nurses, Lysanne, has been in a northernmost Inuit community in Quebec. She decided to roll up her sleeves and do prevention during the COVID crisis, even if her role was exclusively to screen for tuberculosis. Since the onset of the crisis, she has been teaching – in addition to her daily work -about the disease, hand washing and how to safely put on and take off protective equipment. She created tools that she shared with all of her colleagues from Bayshore and other agencies. Thus, she was able to educate dozens of patients at the clinic where she works, in addition to reducing the risk of contagion in the clinic by teaching a ‘’lunch and learn’’ to her colleagues at work. Her exemplary work, her patience and calm demeanor since the beginning of the crisis were noticed by the doctors and nurses of the clinic. They asked her to extend her contract with them – for a full 3-month contract up north, without seeing her family and friends.

Quebec clinic makes necessary move within 24 hours

One of our Quebec clinics was needed by the government to become a COVID-19 testing centre. We were notified on a Friday that our space was required, our Regional Manager along with her Nursing Supervisor went to the clinic on a Saturday and moved all of our equipment out so that construction could start immediately on the COVID-19 testing center. Our patients were moved to a nearby clinic and no time was lost, no appointments were cancelled.