Orangeville is growing and so is the service at Headwaters Health Care Centre.

In its annual report for 2005-06, the hospital says one of the more notable events is the Hospital Accountability Agreement signed by Headwaters and the Ministry of Health.

The agreement is designed to link accountability with stable and

predictable funding, ensure sustainable financial footing for the hospital, align the planning and allocations cycle with planning and budgeting in the hospital, support ongoing performance improvement, improve system integration, create a framework for an effective and evolving longterm accountability relationship and consolidate a myriad of service agreements already in place.

The hospital's Strategic Plan for the 2006 2008 period has two components, the hospital's Vision Mission Values and their strategic directions.

This year, a Patient Safety Plan was developed with key components including creation of a culture of patient safety and accountability, education

for staff and physicians and a new assessment tool to evaluate current practices.

Headwaters is still working toward its goal of creating a complete Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and the emergency department was added to it this year.

The report says Emergency Department Management is an electronic information and tracking system for the emergency department. This innovative system allows physicians and staff to triage and register patients, track their progress through the emergency department and monitor test results (lab or x-ray) online. Staff are then able to view and update information more quickly. Waiting times will be reduced for patients, as physicians will be able to access results as soon as they are ready.

Headwaters is also a test site for a new module called Dietary Manager. It integrates the nutritional components of the patient care plan into the EMR and dietary staff can access relevant laboratory and pharmacy information when planning a patient's meals.

Physicians now have the ability to access test results, emergency visits and admission records at anytime, anywhere with the secure Web portal launched in the spring. As well, wireless

devices have been introduced to the inpatient units, which will make it easier for physicians to spend more time with patients as they won't have to return to the nursing station to pick up a new medical chart.

Hand-held Tablet PCs were provided to allow bedside access to the EMR. These are in addition to the Computer on Wheels (COWs) that are used by the multidisciplinary care team to view and document on the EMR.

To help alleviate the waiting time in the emergency department the Ministry of Health allocated more resources to provide additional physician coverage during peak times. The funding allows for two physicians to be working in the department at the same time from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., for nine hours instead of seven. As well, over the last two years a nurse has been added to each shift each day of the week. How long you wait in

the emergency department depends on how urgently you need care, how urgently others in the department need care and how busy the department is.

The Orangeville site will be celebrating 10 years in 2007 and the hospital is now experiencing capacity issues in areas such as the ambulatory care suite (outpatient clinics) and operating rooms.

Headwaters worked with Agnew Peckham Health Care Consultants and completed a Hospital Functional Program which projects future space needs to accommodate population growth and clinical services.

Two time horizons were selected, 2010 and 2020, for planning purposes. Stantec Architecture then designed a master plan that includes options for the phasing and the proposed expansion.

It has been forwarded to the Capital Planning Branch of the Ministry of Health for review and approval to move to the next phase of planning.

The cost of an expansion will be shared by the provincial government and the Headwaters Health Care Centre community.

The number of cataract surgeries performed at Headwaters has increased substantially since 2002. During 2002-03, 89 surgeries were performed, the next year 319, then 488 and finally 612 were performed in 2005-06. This was because of new funding allocated by the Ministry of Health.

The Orangeville site saw a second palliative care suite open to expand access to the palliative care service. Also, diagnostic imaging has new early-morning, evening and weekend hours to give people more flexibility to have their diagnostic exams performed. Weekend physiotherapy hours were added to assist with faster recovery times.

The Shelburne site now has a guardian angel at its entrance, carved by Jim Menken.