MINUTES Council Members: Teresa O Riordan (Chair), Edith Baraniecki,, Sheila Raffray, Dr. J. Lawrence Tymko Alberta Health Services: Deb Gordon, Donna Grier, Naomi Shopland, Dr. Chris Sikora Public: 2 Regrets: Cora Dootjes, Alexander Kuznetsov Agenda Item Discussion Action Welcome and Introductions 1. Approval of Agenda Moved by Sheila Rattray that the agenda of Thursday, Sept 15, 2016 be approved. MOTION CARRIED. 2. Approval of Minutes Moved by Edith Baraniecki that the minutes of Thursday, June 16, 2016 be approved. MOTION CARRIED Greater Edmonton Health Advisory Council Thursday, September 15, 2016 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Strathcona Community Hospital 9000 Emerald Drive, Sherwood Park, AB 3. Presentations and Old Business 3.1. Access to Medically Supervised Injection Services in Edmonton Zone A delegation from Access to Medically Supervised Injection Services Edmonton (AMSISE) provided the following: Community, medical, academic, and public sector representatives have been meeting as AMSISE since 2012 to investigate the need and the feasibility of adding medically supervised injection to the spectrum of harm reduction services in Edmonton, as both a public health and public safety strategy. Medically supervised injection is solidly aligned with AHS Strategic Directions and Health and Business Plan. It
closely aligns with the AHS Harm Reduction and Substance Use Policy that specifically names supervised injection as an example of harm reduction. The focus is on people with severe and chronic addictions, usually homeless whose chaotic and furtive drug injection use takes place in unsafe environments. The services will be provided by and in three agencies who are already working with this population. This service will be provided 24/7 by the three agencies. AHS and Alberta Health have been partners in the developmental process from the beginning of AMSISE. AMSISE is seeing support in principle and commitment to find the addition of medically supervised injection services as a public health and public safety initiative. AHS Edmonton Zone Executive Leadership has already written a letter of support for this service in Edmonton Zone. One of the goals of AMSISE is to dispel the myth that offering people supervised injection services will encourage people to experiment with and use drugs. Medical Evidence: Injection in public is associated with a major increase in the known risks of injection drugs used including overdose, transmission of Hep C and HIV, and bacterial infections. Clean, safe places for injections dramatically reduce those risks and provide opportunity to engage people who use drugs in care. Chances of treatment and rehabilitation of drug users is higher. Council to write a letter of support for AMSISE to AHS and to AH. Council was provided with material which provides further background on the proposed program. 2 P a g e
3.2. Rural Health Services Update Donna Grier, Executive Director, Community & Rural Hospitals, Edmonton Zone Donna Grier provided the council with the following update: There are six facilities that service the communities in the Greater Edmonton region. They include: o Westivew Health Centre, Stony Plain o Devon General Hospital, Devon o Leduc Community Hospital, Leduc o Strathcona Community Hospital, Sherwood Park o Northeast Community Health Centre, Edmonton o Fort Saskatchewan Comm. Hospital, Fort Sask. Donna Grier provided the council with a comprehensive overview of each facility. Community and Rural Hospitals Contributions to the Zone: 24/7 Emergency department services 141 Acute care, 52 Continuing Care and six hospice beds Care closer to home for residents of the suburban communities 33% of all Emergency Department visits in the zone are seen at Community and Rural Hospitals (C&RH) The provide 10% of Day Surgery for the zone Point of Interest: Westview and Fort Saskatchewan Cataract surgery hubs Leduc is the only publicly funded facility in Alberta providing consult and surgical services to WCB clients through a contract Very supportive network among C&RH sites to manage capacity Challenges: Strathcona and Northeast have no inpatient beds and limited capacity to hold patients Strathcona has 24/7 CT capability Balance between local access to specialty services and efficient use of resources. 3 P a g e
Occupancy over 100% at all sites Westview area population growth has created capacity issues. The site is developing a space plan Going Forward: Build a robust Women s Health service at Fort Saskatchewan Community Hospital Continue to work closely with local Primary Care Networks Comprehensive Zone surgery planning Address space planning issues 3.3 Business Arising from the Minutes of June 16 2016 Meeting Naomi Shopland, Advisory Council Officer 4. New Business 4.1. Council Member Round Table Updates Dr. Mador to forward Fort M*A*S*H tee shirt link to council members. Pending. Naomi Shopland to inquire about the Family Care Clinic phone survey results. Complete. Naomi Shopland to ask about attendance requirements for an AHS representative at the Evansburg Physician Recruitment Committee meetings. Complete. Naomi Shopland to pass on Council feedback regarding Continuing Care Expo to Carol Anderson. Complete. Naomi Shopland to pass on feedback about Homeless Connect to Homeward Trust. Complete. Edith Baraniecki relayed a good news story regarding hip/knee surgeries. While the wait was a bit long, the procedure and pre and post-operative care went well. Dr. J. Lawrence Tymko shared that he has heard about two successful, recent knee surgeries. He also reported that Health Link/811 is currently undergoing a process to streamline their systems and databases. Sheila Raffray shared a concern from a community member regarding post-operative infection care. This Dr. Mador to forward Fort M*A*S*H tee shirt link to council members. Naomi Shopland to arrange a presentation from Edmonton Zone Orthopaedic department at an upcoming meeting. 4 P a g e
community member had to be shuttled from his home to Sherwood Park three times a day for intravenous treatments. Sheila Rattray asked if that was normal protocol. Deb Gordon explained that often surgeons like to see a case through, however she does recognize that this is an inconvenience to the patient and best practices need to be improved. Teresa O Riordan wanted clarification on the number of anesthesiologists in Edmonton Zone as she has heard that there currently aren t enough. Deb Gordon reported that there is a sufficient number for the population and number of procedures in Edmonton Zone. 4.2. Voices of the Community (Community Presentations) 4.3. Edmonton Zone Update Deb Gordon, Vice President & Chief Health Operations Officer (Northern AB) There were two members of the community present. Both expressed appreciation for the work of the council and look forward to attending meetings in the future. Deb Gordon provided the council with the following update: The influenza immunization campaign will commence in October. Deb Gordon and Dr. David Mador have challenged the Executive leaders in Calgary zone to a influenza immunization competition to see which Zone can get the most staff immunized. Deb Gordon encouraged the council to share the importance of being immunized and the different locations, ie: pharmacies, public health centres and family physicians. Phase one of the Centralized Information System project is complete and awaiting approval. An evaluation team, consisting of 25 individuals from across the province, with various relevant backgrounds to assess the proposals was created and vendor demos to the Deb Gordon to follow up on the number of pharmacists in Alberta. 5 P a g e
evaluation team and the Executive Leadership Team were completed. Phase two includes an ongoing complex vendor nomination process. Domain demonstrations and evaluations are planned for January 2017. Hand hygiene statistics continue to improve across Edmonton Zone. 4.4. Report from the Chair Teresa O Riordan, Chair 4.5. Recruitment Update Naomi Shopland, Advisory Council Officer 4.6. Advisory Council Officer Report - Naomi Shopland, Advisory Council Officer Teresa O Riordan reported that the Council of Chairs met by Telehealth Thursday, Sept 1 to discuss recruitment, terms of reference for the community engagement sub-committee of the Board, and the advisory councils fall forum. A main point of discussion was also around cultural awareness and sensitivity, as well as creating diverse and inclusive advisory councils. Naomi Shopland and Teresa O Riordan reported the following: Greater Edmonton currently has 10 vacancies. A provincewide recruitment campaign this spring/summer resulted in significant interest in all the AHS Advisory Councils. Greater Edmonton had a robust turnout with a total of 50 applications. These applications were short-listed and 13 candidates were interviewed. The names of six applicants were forwarded to the AHS board for approval and appointment. Naomi Shopland provided the Council with the following report: She highlighted the exemplary job by AHS staff during the evacuation and recovery in Fort McMurray. Orientation materials will be distributed to new and current members. 6 P a g e
The Community Engagement Committee of the Board had their Terms of Reference approved at the July 29 Board meeting. The 12 HACs had 77 members with terms expiring on June 30, 2016. Of those, 48 members are recommended for renewal. The 12 HACs had 108 vacant positions across the province. The recruitment campaign resulted in 236 applications across Alberta and 65 new member recommendations 5. Date of Next Meeting Next Meeting Date: Thursday, Nov 17, 2016 Time: 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Location: TBD 6. Meeting Evaluation and Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 9:13 p.m. *Please note that these minutes are in DRAFT form and are subject to change and approval at the Thursday, November 17, 2016 council meeting. 7 P a g e