Stroke and the holidays

Monday 16 December 2024: The Christmas holiday season, as joyful as it is, can also be stressful for many adults. Amid the increased pressures and demands, Bermuda Hospitals Board’s Primary Stroke Centre and Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute urge everyone to be mindful of their mental and physical health.

Psychosocial stress, excessive alcohol intake, overeating, physical inactivity and sleep deprivation are common during this period and can increase the risk for certain health conditions, including stroke.

“In the US, more strokes are reported from November to February,” said BHB Primary Stroke Centre Director Dr Srinath Meadipudi. “That’s why we are encouraging the public again to get to the hospital as fast as possible at the earliest indication that someone may be experiencing a stroke.”

BE FAST is the acronym to help remember the signs and symptoms of stroke. If you or someone you know suddenly loses Balance, experiences a change in Eyesight, suffers Facial drooping, weakness in an Arm or leg, changes in Speech where it may become slurred or not accessible, then it’s Time to call 911 and report to the hospital immediately.

“When people seek emergency care quickly, our physicians can administer tenecteplase, a blood-clot-busting drug, within the crucial time window,” said Dr Meadipudi. “This treatment greatly improves stroke outcomes and helps stroke patients achieve better recovery.

“Since BE FAST was launched as part of our public education on stroke, we have seen a significant increase in the number of people attending the hospital at the first signs of stroke. Every minute matters, and presenting to the Emergency Department as soon as possible allows us to deliver the best possible care to those in need.”

BHB thanks everyone who has listened, learned and taken action by recognising stroke symptoms and seeking immediate medical attention.

“Together, we are improving stroke care and saving lives,” said Dr Meadipudi.

For information leaflets on stroke symptoms, what to do in an emergency and what you can do to minimise your stroke risk, please visit the Primary Stroke Centre online at bermudahospitals.bm.

16 December 2024 Home Page, News

BHB Public Advisory: No through traffic at KEMH between Point Finger and Berry Hill roads on Saturday 14 December 2024

Wednesday 11 December 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board advises the public that there will be no through traffic on the campus of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) between Point Finger Road and Berry Hill Road on Saturday 14 December from 7am – 9am.

People will be able to access the Emergency Department, the main Acute Care Wing (ACW) entrance and the ACW visitor parking lot from Point Finger Road.

Access from Berry Hill Road will stop at the Berry Hill visitor parking lot for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

To ensure safety, please adhere to all signage, barricades and directions of personnel at the site.

-ends-

11 December 2024 News

BHB and Johns Hopkins work together to improve local trauma care

Wednesday 11 December 2024: BHB staff and community surgeons were working last week with a trauma specialist from Johns Hopkins, Dr Kent Stevens, to improve the care and outcomes for trauma patients in Bermuda. This work is being undertaken as part of BHB’s clinical affiliation agreement with Johns Hopkins Medicine International.

Dr Stevens was joined by BHB staff from the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, Surgery, Pathology, Pharmacy, Imaging Services and Executive Team and community surgeons to discuss local service improvements and a possible transatlantic clinical collaboration that will give local physicians access to Johns Hopkins specialists when managing the most challenging individual cases.

CEO & President, Scott Pearman, comments: “BHB’s vision is to pursue excellence through improvement, to make Bermuda proud and this week has seen our vision in action as we focused on improving trauma care for patients on island. We have amazing staff and community surgeons who work round the clock – literally – to save the lives of people injured through accidents, crashes, shootings, and stabbings. All of us in Bermuda rely on these individuals if we experience a medical trauma and it’s great to see our clinical affiliation with Johns Hopkins Medicine International provide the support our local providers need as they work to make improvements.”

Acting Chief of Staff, Dr Anna Neilson-Williams, adds: “This has been a fantastic few days of work with all the BHB departments and external surgeons who are part of the trauma response teams working together with Johns Hopkins to improve care for our patients in Bermuda.

“When a patient is hurt due to an accident, crash or violent incident, there are many moving parts in the medical response. The timing of all of these parts coming together is critical in getting a patient diagnosed and treated efficiently and effectively. Following a traumatic incident a fast response is often crucial to save their lives whether they can be fully treated in Bermuda, or require stabilisation before being sent overseas. Our focus has therefore very much been on how we can coordinate our response more effectively and quickly, and discussing solutions to the limitations of living on a small island where we don’t have on-the-ground specialists to cover every single trauma need. I’m looking forward to the next steps of working together to take all the issues, comments and ideas raised this week and turning them into improvements on the frontline that will directly benefit our patients.”

Dr Stevens comments: “It really has been a pleasure to visit Bermuda and meet with local healthcare professionals to improve the trauma pathway. I’ve been impressed with the facility and staff. Bermuda should already be proud, but in healthcare, improvements are always possible. I’ve been able to share knowledge about the quality standards and processes we use at Johns Hopkins and my experience of dealing with very similar issues faced by the teams here. I look forward to exploring additional opportunities to support local service improvements.”

Mr Pearman concludes: “The trauma care pathway is one of the many care pathways we are working to improve at BHB. The heart of this work is about collaborating with other providers and patients in Bermuda to make improvements that really make a difference to patient experience and outcomes. So far, we have developed integrated stroke, breast cancer, and prostate cancer care pathways. Johns Hopkins is currently helping develop improved pathways for trauma and burns at this time, much in same way this partnership has helped BHB establish its primary stroke centre programme.”

11 December 2024 Home Page, News

BHB urges online bill payment

Tuesday 10 December 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) will no longer accept payments at its Hamilton location in Craig Appin House on Wesley Street. Patients are encouraged to make payments online where possible.

The change takes effect on 1 January 2025.

Butterfield and HSBC Banks have included BHB in their list of payees for online payments. Clarien Bank clients can do an online transfer using BHB account #6000247519. Payees should include their statement number followed by their full name with any online payment.

Payments can be made with cash, credit card or personal cheque at King Edward VII Memorial Hospitals cashier’s window, Ground Floor Acute Care Wing from 9am-3pm, the Emergency Department Admitting window from 3pm-9am on weekdays and all day on weekends, and the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre during its opening hours – 9am-9pm Saturdays and Sundays.

“I also remind the public to speak with our accounts department if they are having difficulty settling their bill,” said BHB Chief Financial Officer Arthur Ebbin. “We will work on a payment plan with you.”

 

10 December 2024 Home Page, News

BHB Public Advisory: Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre closed on Sunday

Tuesday 10 December 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board advises the public that due to a shortage of staff, the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre (UCC) will be closed on Sunday 15 December 2024.

The UCC will be open its regular hours of 9am to 9pm on Saturday 14 December 2024.

This temporary UCC closure is to ensure adequate staffing levels to safely manage demand for all patients who require urgent or emergency care. BHB apologises for the inconvenience.

-ends-

10 December 2024 Home Page, News

BHB publishes guide to help identify when medical care is needed for measles

Monday 25 November 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board today issued a patient self-assessment guide to help patients and carers identify when medical advice and hospital care is needed for patients with suspected or confirmed  measles infections. Click here for the guide.

Chief of Emergency & Hyperbaric Services Dr Chikezie Dean Okereke comments: “While most patients can get through a measles infection by staying hydrated and taking fever medication, such as Tylenol and Ibuprofen, the complications of measles can be extremely serious and people need to know when medical advice or hospital treatment is needed.

“In recent US outbreaks, 20% (one in five) of unvaccinated people who had measles were hospitalised. It is an extremely infectious disease. You can catch measles by walking into a room that someone infected with measles left two hours before.”

The Measles Patient Symptom Self-Assessment Guide has been designed to help people decide when they should stay at home, and when they need to call for medical advice or emergency treatment.

Dr Okereke stated how it important it was that even when emergency medical care is needed, no one with measles or suspected measles should just turn up at the Emergency Department. Patients or carers should call in advance so the Emergency Department can safely attend to the patient in need without putting other people at risk.

“We also want to remind people that prevention is the best form of protection. History is full of stories of measles tragedies that vaccination for the most part has eradicated. We need to do all we can to stop it re-emerging as a threat to our children and families.

“On the back of the positive measles cases in Bermuda, we are encouraging masking in hospital waiting areas, and in the Emergency Department it is now a requirement.

“Vaccination remains best and safest way to safeguard against measles and its complications. It is extremely effective (97%) and according to the World Health Organization, has saved about 60 million lives since 2000. The vaccine is readily available here in Bermuda from your GP, paediatrician and the Government clinic (278-6460). It requires two jabs one month apart for the highest level of protection, but even after the first jab your protection from this disease will be vastly improved.”

 

25 November 2024 Home Page, News

Joint Statement from BHB, PALS, Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre (BCHC) and Ministry of Health on oncology referral navigation

Friday 15 November 2024: Cancer care service providers are working together around the clinical care of all patients with cancer and wanted to provide an overview of how new cancers will be managed while Bermuda Hospitals Board’s (BHB’s) two newly appointed oncologists go through the final stages of moving to the island.

Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) announced last week that two new full-time oncologists had been hired.  Their immigration applications have now been approved and BHB is in the process of confirming start dates of the new oncologists.

Although BHB’s medical oncology capacity has been reduced, the clinical teams are all here to help and will remain involved for all those with cancer. Moving forward, all referrals for oncology patients should be sent via email to the BCHC Cancer Navigator at referrals@chc.bm. Any referrals received directly to medical oncology via the current route will be forwarded on.

This includes new consults, previously seen patients with new issues and any returning overseas patients.

As standard, referrals should include a referral letter, pathology report, imaging reports, lab work and any overseas notes.

Each patient will be triaged and reviewed through an additional oncology tumour board dedicated to triaging patient care. This will occur weekly or as needed for urgent patients.  Recommendations will be documented in a tumour board note, and the patient will be followed to the next steps of their pathway.

Patients requiring further discussion with the wider multidisciplinary team will be presented at the General tumour board, which occurs each Friday.

Patients requiring referral overseas for treatment will have their HIAB form completed by the navigation team. However, the GP or referring physician will remain the point of contact for those patients and will be required to contact the patient to advise them of the tumour board recommendation.

The cancer navigator will then follow up with the patient regarding overseas referral information/process.  Patients will be advised to liaise with their insurance company regarding which facility they should be referred to.

Patients who can receive treatment on the island will be referred to the appropriate physicians and monitored by the navigation team for any status updates/changes.

The Navigation team can be contacted with any other questions or concerns:

Michele Hypolite & Harriet Stuckes

referrals@chc.bm

441-621-1003

-ends-

15 November 2024 Home Page, News

Sterile processing department at KEMH to be upgraded

Thursday 7 November 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board today announced that it is starting a major renovation project for its sterile processing department that will run from February to July 2025.

Sterile processing is the sanitisation of equipment and items used in clinical care. The highly specialised cleaning process ensures items are completely safe for use. All surgical tools are cleaned and packaged in this area to support the over 9,000 surgeries undertaken at KEMH per year. Any items that are re-used across the hospitals are also processed through this department.

Chief Operating Officer Preston Swan comments: “This is a long overdue upgrade project that will remedy the issues that have impacted SPD over the last few years, such as equipment failure and floods.  The equipment is over 14 years old and the area is in the older part of the General Wing so the infrastructure is in urgent need of work. A failure in SPD could impact our ability to deliver life saving procedures and deliver safe care across our inpatient and outpatient service. This is a priority project for us that will enable us to deliver the safest, most efficient sterile processing service in the support of patient care.”

The project will cost about $4.5 million in total and will include the replacement of equipment, furniture and the floor as well as an upgrade of the infrastructure.

Mr Swan continues: “We anticipate the upgrade work in SPD will start in February and be completed by July 2025. While the department is upgraded, we will use a temporary sterile processing area that is currently being constructed in the old surgical area of the General Wing, just opposite the existing location.

“The capacity of the temporary area will be enough to meet most of our needs during the upgrade, but there will be some patient impact. We anticipate there will be a reduction in the number of major elective surgeries undertaken in any one day, such as hips and knee replacements, as these are very instrument intensive. I would stress, however, that we will be able to complete all emergency and time-sensitive surgical needs, for example trauma, emergency caesarians or cancer surgeries, and there will be less impact on procedures that don’t need much instrumentation, such as pain management, some cardiology procedures, endoscopy and urology procedures.”

Once complete, the upgrade will ensure a much more consistent sterile processing service, optimising safety, quality and efficiency.

“We apologise that there will likely be fewer major elective surgeries during the first half of year,” Mr Swan says. “We will continue to do all we can to minimise the patient impact across all our services. Certainly the upgrade of this critical area is required to ensure that the sterile processing service is as robust and efficient as possible to meet the long term needs of Bermuda patients for the years ahead.”

 

7 November 2024 Home Page, News

No through traffic at KEMH between Point Finger and Berry Hill roads on Saturday morning

Wednesday 6 November 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board advises the public that there will be no through traffic on the campus of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) between Point Finger Road and Berry Hill Road on Saturday 9 November from 7am- noon.

People will be able to access the Emergency Department, the main Acute Care Wing (ACW) entrance and the ACW visitor parking lot from Point Finger Road.

Access from Berry Hill Road will stop at the Botanical Gardens’ gate to KEMH.

To ensure safety, please adhere to all signage, barricades and directions of personnel at the site.

-ends-

6 November 2024 Home Page, News

Oncology Service Notice

Friday 1 November 2024: BHB is close to bringing two new oncologists to Bermuda. The new oncologists are in the final stages of recruitment having completed their local registration with the Bermuda Medical Council and we are in the process of securing immigration approval.

Following the departure of Acting Director of Oncology Dr Michael Hawking in September, BHB has one full time oncologist until the new appointees arrive.  Urgent work continues with overseas partners in order to refer newly diagnosed patients for consultation and treatment during this transition period, until the on-island Oncology service is able to have those patients transition back to Bermuda for continued treatment and follow up.

New patients with insurance will be referred overseas following a review by the Tumour Board, and we will work on individual solutions for patients who do not have insurance or cannot travel.

Acting Chief of Staff Anna Nielson-Williams comments: “We understand that our oncology patients will be very concerned about what this means to their treatment, and we recognise patients with newly discovered cancers during this time may worry about what this means to their care.

“There are up to 300 oncology patients seen by the service each month, and existing patients will continue with their chemotherapy treatments, though some appointments with the oncologist may be rescheduled for patients who are stable.

“We will do all we can to facilitate overseas referrals as quickly as possible for patients newly diagnosed until we can either secure more locum coverage or the new oncologists arrive. We will work individually with patients who do not have the option of travelling overseas.”

“A cancer diagnosis is extremely stressful for patients and families, so we apologise for the additional anxiety caused and will continue to do everything possible to ensure we can return to delivering on-island care for all.”

1 November 2024 Home Page, News