Hospital president says thanks
I would like to thank the community for its support of Brampton Civic Hospital (BCH), which opened on time and on budget on Sunday, Oct. 28. We are pleased to be able to serve you in our newest facility and appreciate your patience as we adjust to our new environment.

While we anticipated and planned for an increase in volumes, the number of patients accessing Brampton Civic is well beyond anyone's expectations. Our statistics show that people from communities that rarely travelled to Brampton for medical assistance are now seeking care at Brampton Civic. In fact, while some neighbouring hospitals saw their emergency visits significantly drop, Brampton Civic experienced a 23 per cent increase in emergency visits in its first week. Not only are more people coming to BCH's Emergency Department, they are more acutely ill patients requiring more intensive treatment.

The experience of the move to BCH is captured in the following excerpt from remarks I shared recently at the William Osler Health Centre Foundation's Annual Golf Ball, where community members came together to raise funds for our hospitals:

"Less than one week ago, the Osler men and women in this room, along with hundreds of dedicated physicians staff and volunteers, did what people said they could not do.

These men and women safely and without a single incident moved 234 sick and elderly five miles across town-- Intravenous poles, monitors, belongings, families, medications, and all-- and tucked them into fresh clean linens and welcoming beds at Brampton Civic Hospital, all in the space of seven hours...

And should you think that a move of this kind is easy, add into the mix these challenges--

the simultaneous responsibility for Etobicoke General Hospital-- a full 250 bed hospital, complete with a full emergency and caseload.

The sheer size of their new building-- Brampton Civic Hospital-- stretching three football fields long and two football fields wide.

Imagine in it, a different food preparation and ordering system.

Imagine a different patient transfer system.

Imagine a different parking system.

Imagine a different place to put your coat in the morning, and eat your lunch, and store your purse.

Imagine a different means of sending specimens to the lab, and of receiving the results.

Imagine unfamiliar signage, new lighting, perhaps a different chair.

Imagine experiencing sunshine in your workplace for the first time.

Imagine different operating rooms, and lights, and anesthesia machines/scopes/tables.

Imagine a different security system, door lock system, access routes.

Imagine North America's first wireless handheld nurse call device.

Imagine all new phone numbers-- all those numbers in your head stored over all those years now worthless -- and no Blackberries because its tower is not yet installed.

Imagine different workstations, computers, new paperless systems.

Different medication systems with new medicine computers on wheels, automated dispensing units and a pill-picking robot.

Imagine that the medical world is watching how you perform.

Now imagine them all at once.

To open BCH we hired almost 500 more staff and physicians and recruited 50 more volunteers.

Together this new and experienced team of 3,725 are all working hard at BCH to serve patients and their families while simultaneously adjusting to new equipment, new computer software, new processes and a new environment.

We continue to recruit, to train and to make changes, and we are already seeing positive results.

We appreciate the continued patience and understanding of the community as we adapt and make adjustments to meet your health care needs.

Robert A. Richards,

President and Chief Executive Officer

William Osler Health Centre