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Chief of Staff Wesley Miller retires from BHB

Wednesday 3 April 2024: After many years of distinguished service, Dr Wesley Miller has decided to retire from his position as chief of staff at BHB. The Bermuda Hospitals Board wishes to thank Dr Miller for his service and to wish him well in his return to private practice. BHB has already started the process of recruiting for Dr Miller’s replacement and will provide an update as soon as possible.

While the recruitment process is being completed, Chief of Psychiatry Dr Anna Neilson-Williams has agreed to be the acting chief of staff.

We wish Dr Miller every success in his future endeavours.

3 April 2024 Home Page, News

BHB shares update about hospital – physician communications

Tuesday 2 April 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board has had a physician advisory council to participate in the ongoing development of our electronic medical record, PEARL, for over a year. Community and BHB physicians are represented to collaborate on optimising our ability to share highly confidential medical information about our patients.  The public should be reassured that BHB only uses secure methods of transmitting their medical information.

Communicating with physicians via private emails and fax does not constitute the highest level of safeguarding patient data. As we work through making improvements, we have continued faxing to community physician offices so there has been no cut off of available patient information through older systems.  Faxing is not perfect, however. There can be issues with transmission, or risks of paper running out at the receiver end or getting lost in the community offices. This is why their use is being phased out in other countries such as the UK.

Email and messaging can be used if they are on secure platforms. Many family doctors now have their own electronic medical records and we are already in the early stages of implementing an integration engine that will allow the different EMRs in these offices to connect more directly with PEARL.

BHB has also hosted two community physician workshops over the last year to assist them with using BHB systems and PEARL. We certainly want to hear from any physicians who are having issues receiving or sharing information with us at BHB. We already are in contact with certain offices and site visits are arranged if there are issues that can’t be resolved remotely. Prior to the question being tabled to the CEO at Docs for Dinner, BHB was aware of the particular concern voiced and our team had committed to support with a solution.

The requirements of the personal information privacy act do need to be complied with and this is a good thing for Bermuda. Within health care, an individual’s medical information should always be protected to the highest standards available. The onus is on us in health care – in the hospitals and community – to work together and find solutions that safeguard medical information while making it as easy as possible for physicians to care for their patients.

2 April 2024 Home Page, News

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

Wednesday 20 March 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 from 7:30am to 2pm on Saturday 23 March 2024. This is to facilitate removal of and old fuel tank in the boiler room at the basement of the facility.

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.

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20 March 2024 Home Page, News

BHB celebrates World Kidney Day

Tuesday 12 March 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board invites the community to get free screening and education about kidney disease at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) Acute Care Wing lobby on World Kidney Day, Thursday 14 March, between 10am and 2pm.

Nurses from the KEMH Dialysis Unit will be available to discuss the prevention and treatment of kidney disease, and provide free blood sugar and blood pressure testing.

Kidneys play a vital role in maintaining optimal health, as they remove waste from the blood and return cleaned blood back to the body. Each minute about a litre of blood – one fifth of all the blood pumped by the heart – goes through the kidneys. As well as filtering blood, healthy kidneys help control blood pressure, maintain body fluids and regulate the amount of salt, water and other chemicals in our bodies.

Vice-President of Clinical Operations Acute and Ambulatory Care Norma Smith says: “Having healthy kidneys is critical our wellbeing. The theme for this year’s World Kidney Day is kidney health for all. We are therefore encouraging the public to learn more about looking after their kidneys as well as giving them the opportunity of a free screening for diabetes and hypertension which can both impact kidney health if left untreated.

“Prevention is how we avoid ending up needing dialysis, so we want to use World Kidney Day as an opportunity to encourage healthier living and screening. This can help people avoid dialysis altogether.”

12 March 2024 Home Page, News

Generous donation after life-saving cardiac care

Thursday 29 February 2024: Medical equipment and staff training worth half a million dollars has been donated to Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) by two patients.

Mr Bengt Nygren and his wife Brigitta were so impressed with the care they received from BHB cardiologists that they donated $500,000 to the hospital.

The couple, in their eighties, moved to Bermuda just before the COVID-19 pandemic. On separate occasions they became patients of BHB’s cardiologists: Mr Nygren with BHB Consultant Cardiologist and Director of Outpatient Specialty Clinics Dr Joseph Yammine; and Mrs Nygren with BHB Director of Cardiology Dr Sam Mir.

Each received a diagnosis which led to them having cardiac procedures overseas.

“We were so pleased and grateful for the care and attention both Dr Yammine and Dr Mir afforded us,” said Mr Nygren. “Our diagnoses were actually missed by our previous physicians overseas. And it’s all thanks to the BHB team that we were able to have our operations and can look forward to many more years together with our family.

“My wife and I wanted to express our gratitude and felt that a donation to strengthen the work of the department was appropriate,” he added.

The Nygrens made their half-million dollar donation to BHB’s Cardiac Diagnostic Unit through the Bermuda Hospitals Charitable Foundation.

“Mr and Mrs Nygren’s decision to show their gratitude for services we rendered, with this generous donation is inspiring,” said BHB CEO and President, Scott Pearman. “We are a community hospital and our staff strive to provide the best service to every patient. We thank the Nygren’s for their gift. It has enabled us to begin expanding our cardiac services which will benefit all Bermuda residents,” he added.

“Bermuda Hospitals Charitable Foundation is pleased to have facilitated the donation on behalf of Mr and Mrs Nygren,” said the Foundation’s Executive Director, Kim Pratt. “We are very grateful to the Nygrens for recognising the need and supporting BHB in enhancing cardiac services to the community.”

“The funds were used to purchase 14 new mobile ECG carts which are used throughout the hospital, and a treadmill used to screen for coronary artery disease,” said Dr Mir. “Some of the funds were also used to train staff in a new service BHB is developing. The vascular programme will assist in assessing and treating peripheral artery disease.”

Dr Yammine said: “The Nygrens are a very thoughtful and caring couple. Their gift has already helped so many and will continue to do so for many years to come.”

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Photo

Pictured from left: Kim Pratt, Executive Director, Bermuda Hospitals Charitable Foundation; David Lang, President, Bermuda Hospitals Charitable Foundation; Dr Joseph Yammine, BHB Consultant Cardiologist and Director of Outpatient Specialty Clinics; Marlah Edwards, BHB Clinical Supervisor, Cardiology; Bengt Nygren; Scott Pearman, BHB CEO and President; Dr Sam Mir, BHB Director of Cardiology; and Preston Swan, BHB Acting Chief Operating Officer.

29 February 2024 Home Page, News

BHB seeks community input into improving patient flow

Friday 26 January 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) today asks people who have been an inpatient at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital to fill in a short survey about their experience and to provide details about where they experienced delays.

The survey is part of a 100 day challenge that started on 1 December, with the goal of improving internal processes that impact patient flow through King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. The survey can be accessed at: www.surveymonkey.com/r/BHB100DAYS

CEO & President Scott Pearman notes that while many discharge delays relate to external service availability, BHB wants to do all it can to ensure its internal processes are as efficient as possible.

“Our longest delays are due to external factors,” Mr Pearman says, “but the challenge we have set ourselves is whether the inpatient who was in hospital for seven days could have been discharged in five or six if our internal processes were more efficient.

“The 100 Day Challenge and survey feed into our larger people-centred care journey. While we are looking at our data to help us identify where improvements can be made, patients and their families have lived experience that can help illuminate issues that are impacting them.”

The executive sponsor of the challenge, Chief of Nursing Judy Richardson, says the initiative is a way to focus multiple teams on what is a collective responsibility, to learn as much as possible where the delays are and to either test an improvement or identify longer term or more complex changes that will be picked up past the 100 days.

“This challenge is about how we collaborate and work internally,” Mrs Richardson explains. “From diagnostic imaging to the inpatient wards, environmental services to porters, lab services to individual specialists, we are asking our staff across areas to improve the patient journey. If inpatients need an MRI, for example, how can we make sure they are seen within a day of the referral. We can’t solve everything in 100 days, but the challenge is to learn and test as much as we can.”

Keltie Jamieson, Chief Hospital Information Officer adds, “Our electronic medical record, PEARL, will help us collate data and see what is happening around the organisation. This data is a big help in identifying and measuring change, but the heart of the project is engaging staff, patients and families around the single focus of improving patient flow.

“This survey is available for people who want to provide details about their patient journey, and the 100 Day Challenge team is speaking with patients and their families while they are in hospital so we fully understand and incorporate their feedback when making changes.”

The 100 Day Challenge ends in March, and BHB will provide an update in April of the Challenge outcomes.

Pictured left to right above discussing data in the 100 Day Challenge Command Centre are BHB staff Martin Maurais, Quality Manager; Olievia Martins, Clinical Informatics Specialist; and Karen Raynor, Clinical Director Medical Surgical Services.

26 January 2024 Home Page, News

Bermuda’s first baby of 2024 is born

Wednesday 3 January 2024: Bermuda’s first baby of 2024 was born on Tuesday 2 January 2024 at 5.37pm. Isabelle Clare Faries weighted 6 lbs and 7 ounces and Bermudian parents Ryan and Lyndsay Faries say they’ll call her ‘Bella’.

“Bella was a ‘fast and furious’ baby,” says Ryan. “We arrived at the hospital at 4:30pm and she was born just over an hour later.”

Bella has an older brother, Theo, who is three years old. “He’s really excited to meet his new sister,” Lyndsay says.

“We are really grateful to all the nurses and our doctor,” adds Ryan. “They have been friendly, kind and helpful throughout the whole experience.”

 

3 January 2024 Home Page, News

Valentine’s Day Raffle encourages more people to donate blood

Tuesday 2 January 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board today announces a  ‘bring-a-friend’ raffle being run by the Bermuda Blood Donor Centre. Starting on Tuesday 2 January 2024, if an existing blood donor brings another person who hasn’t donated before to donate blood, both the existing and new donor will be put in a draw for one of six $250 Masters gift certificates. The draw will be made on Valentine’s Day on Wednesday 14 February 2024.

“Masters has donated a number of gift certificates to us and we will be using them throughout the year as we find different ways to thank our donors,” says Lucy Correia, Nurse Phlebotomist. “As this raffle ends on Valentine’s Day we want to see people bring a new donor – it could be a friend, colleague or loved one. Both our regular and new donor to have a chance to win.”

“We always need more blood donors, but we also need people who can donated platelets, which is a special type of donation called apheresis,” Lucy adds. “First time blood donors can be tested to see if they fit the criteria. Platelets are used for patients who have compromised immune systems, such as cancer and leukaemia patients.”

Lucy also notes that people who spent time in the UK can also now donate. She says, “People who had spent time in the UK between 1980 and 1996 can now donate. This criteria was relaxed last year following scientific evidence that it was safe to do so.”

People who want to book an appointment to donate blood should contact the Bermuda Blood Donor Centre by phone 236-5067, WhatsApp 533-9553 or email blood.donor@bhb.bm. The blood donation site https://bermudahospitals.bm/be-a-donor/ also has more information and the latest criteria for donating.

2 January 2024 Home Page, News

BHB purchases Craig Appin building under favourable terms

Tuesday 2 January 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) today announced it has purchased Craig Appin House in Hamilton in a favourable deal that protects it from future rental increases.

BHB has rented space in Craig Appin for over ten years, after it had to decant its Human Resources, ITS and Finance offices from the Queen Elizabeth Nurses Residence in 2011 due to its poor physical condition. Over 100 BHB employees work in the building, including a medical concierge service that assists patients with medical travel.

The QENR was on the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital campus next to Berry Hill Road. Its construction was completed in May 1960 and originally housed nurses coming to Bermuda from overseas. It was demolished in 2016 following assessments that it would be too costly to try and repair and maintain.

Chief Financial Officer, Arthur Ebbin, comments: “I would very much like to thank the owners of Craig Appin who offered BHB favourable and flexible terms for the purchase. BHB will pay the same amount it has been paying each year in rent as it pays for the building. This means we have been able to afford the purchase based on our cash flow. Rental income from other services in the building will help offset maintenance costs for the immediate future. Critically, this deal protects us from the rental market increases in Hamilton over the coming years and provides us with options for estate planning to benefit our services to the community.”

As is required, the deal was approved by the Minister of Health and Minister of Finance, as well as the BHB Board and Executive.

2 January 2024 Home Page, News