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.

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.”

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.

Two babies born on Christmas Day

Monday 25 December 2023: Two babies have been born on Christmas today. A baby boy was born at 1.42am and a baby girl was born at 4.38am.  Pictured is the baby boy, with a photograph supplied by the parents.