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Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre services to open weekends only for a month

Wednesday 19 October 2022: Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) today notes that the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre (UCC) will close on weekdays from Wednesday 19 October, for at least a month. The UCC will remain open during its usual hours on weekends from 9am to 9pm. This only relates to urgent care services, and does not impact the weekly Integrated Healthcare Clinic that runs on Wednesdays.

Chief of Emergency Dr Chikezie Dean Okereke notes: “The closure on weekdays helps us focus emergency staff at KEMH to manage the pressures being felt in the emergency department. Emergency visits right now are high and bed occupancy within BHB is also under pressure, so we are focusing our nurse and physician resources where the most unwell patients are. This has happened to us before as we move into the colder months. The emergency patient numbers are not related to any one cause. They are multifactorial and include, among others, a generally unwell and increasingly aging population. We expect the UCC will remain closed on weekdays for at least a month, but we will continually review the situation.”

Chief of Staff Dr Wesley Miller adds: “There are ways we each can reduce the need for emergency visits that are better for our quality of life as well as reducing pressure in the hospital. We would urge people to manage their known chronic illnesses and see their GP as needed for advice and treatment, before it requires a hospital visit.

“We are also entering a time when respiratory illnesses are rising. People should do all they can to protect themselves by getting their flu and COVID vaccines, especially if they are older or have pre-existing conditions that make them vulnerable to serious complications. We also want to see people drive more carefully on the roads, avoiding unnecessary and sometimes very serious injuries.

“Finally, we ask that people who are ready for discharge are helped home or to a nursing placement by their loved ones and families. We still experience people staying in hospital longer than they need to be and this causes delays that impact emergency staff as patients wait there longer for an inpatient bed.”

19 October 2022 Home Page, News

Arthur Ebbin appointed as BHB chief financial officer

Friday 14 October 2022: Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) today announces that Arthur Ebbin Jr, BBA, CPA, has been appointed as its chief financial officer (CFO), replacing Bill Shields, who is leaving at the beginning of November. The CFO position reports to the CEO & president and the Board of BHB. Mr Ebbin’s appointment is effective Monday 7 November.

As CFO, Mr Ebbin will oversee all fiscal and fiduciary responsibilities for BHB, along with the efficient financial administration of BHB. He will lead the development and implementation of BHB’s financial strategy, with a commitment to uphold ethical and professional standards in all matters relating to BHB’s finances.

CEO & President Michael Richmond comments: “I’m very pleased to welcome Arthur Ebbin to the role of chief financial officer at BHB. This is a critical role, with responsibility for the financial stewardship of the hospitals. Arthur’s history at BHB, and his qualifications and experience in maintaining sound financial management and effective financial strategies made him the ideal candidate.

“We are very grateful to Bill Shields, who is leaving BHB to go home to the UK. Over the last five years, he has undertaken sterling work in managing BHB finances through increasing financial pressures, not least from the pandemic. It is a testament to BHB’s commitment to succession planning and development, however, that we have a well-prepared and qualified Bermudian to take over in what continue to be challenging times.”

Having joined BHB nearly 10 years ago in 2013 as assistant financial controller, Mr Ebbin was promoted to controller of operations in 2016-17, and acted in the role of vice president of finance over the same period. He was appointed as director of business finance in 2017. From 2018, Mr Ebbin was the vice president of business finance at BHB.

Prior to working at BHB, Mr Ebbin held finance positions at various companies in Bermuda, although his very first job was a police constable for the Bermuda Police Service, a post he held from 1979 to 1987. Mr Ebbin achieved a Bachelor of Business Administration from Acadia University in 1991 and went on to gain his chartered professional accountant designation in 1994. He completed certificates in healthcare change management and executive healthcare leadership from Cornell University in 2022.

14 October 2022 Home Page, News

HAB donates biomedical van

Wednesday 12 October 2022: The Hospitals Auxiliary of Bermuda (HAB) today announces it has donated a van to Bermuda Hospitals Board’s (BHB’s) Biomedical Engineering Department.

Patrick Cerra, HAB executive member, commented: “HAB is delighted to donate this bio-medical van to the hospital. It should be noted that this is just part of our annual donation programme, in which we typically donate over $300,000 to the hospital to purchase off-budget medical equipment and supplies.”

The Biomedical Engineering Department is responsible for maintaining, installing and safely using healthcare technology at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH), Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute (MWI), Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre (UCC) and group homes. They perform routine checks to catch problems before they become life threatening or extend wait times for critical diagnostics, such as MRIs, CAT scans, X-rays and mammograms. They also respond to emergencies if medical equipment needs repairs. With the purchase of the new van, the team will be able to quickly respond to calls for assistance with technology.

“Every year the HAB works with BHB to assist with our goal to pursue excellence through improvement, to make Bermuda proud,” said BHB CEO & President Dr Michael Richmond. “We are grateful for this donation from the Hospitals Auxiliary of Bermuda that helps keep care services running.”

BHB Biomedical Engineering Manager E Michael Smith said: “On behalf of the biomedical team, I would like to thank the Hospitals Auxiliary of Bermuda for their thoughtful donation. This new vehicle will allow the biomed team to better serve our clients throughout all BHB facilities.

“We make weekly rounds to the UCC, MWI and KEMH as well as to the group homes to service the various types of medical equipment. We will no longer be challenged to provide the needed service to our clients in those locations with this new transportation, and for that we are very thankful.”

12 October 2022 Home Page, News

Residents rate their mental health

Monday 10 October 2022: Today is World Mental Health Day. In Bermuda, the theme for this year is Make Mental Health and Wellbeing for All a Bermuda Priority.

Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) commissioned questions in September’s Bermuda Omnibus survey.  The results showed more residents between 18 and 35 rated their mental health as being worse since the pandemic than those in older age groups. Thirty-two residents in this age group deemed their mental  health somewhat worse or much worse than before the pandemic, compared with 21 people in the 36-64 year category and 17 in the over 65 group. In total 22% of survey respondents felt their mental health had declined since the pandemic.

“The survey result is indicative of what many parents have found anecdotally with their college-aged children,” said BHB Chief of Psychiatry Dr Anna Neilson-Williams. “While each person and their set of circumstances are unique, the impact of lockdowns in not being able to socialise or receive education in a more typical format, combined with feeling imprisoned and isolated, has caused increased depression and anxiety for many. Experiencing the rapidity of how life across the world was forced to change also caused fear, anxiety and depression, particularly in young adults.”

“It is important and encouraging to note that the vast majority of survey respondents (59%) felt their mental health had not significantly changed since the pandemic,” said Dr Neilson-Williams. “But for anyone experiencing difficulties, we can help.”

Respondents were also asked to list factors that prevented them from prioritising their mental health. The majority, (36%) said nothing was stopping them. Twenty-eight percent said work, 10% listed money/finances or not enough time, while 9% said caring for others/family was the reason.

“We encourage everyone in the community to pause and consider their mental health, and to actively care for it in the same way that we take care of our physical health,” said Dr Neilson-Williams. “Exercise can positively impact your mental health, and activities like walking and swimming are free. We live on such a beautiful island, experiencing nature can be very restorative and calming, thus just getting outside can help. Sixty percent, the overwhelming majority, of those surveyed said it’s what they do to improve their mental health.

“Reading a book was a distant second at 15%, spending time with family at 13%, and yoga/meditation/relaxation at 11%.”

BHB is committed to providing services through Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute to ensure good mental health and wellness are available to all in Bermuda.

 

The full Bermuda Omnibus – BHB Report is available below.

Q3 2022 Bermuda Omnibus – BHB Report

BMO Q3 2022Bermuda Omnibus – BHB Report Tabular Results

10 October 2022 Home Page, News

Community Intellectual Disability Team unveils new aquatic therapies

Sunday 2 October 2022: Bermuda Hospitals Board’s Community Intellectual Disability Team (CIDT) highlighted new aquatic therapies at their Exceptional Fall BBQ Celebration yesterday.

Members of the community with intellectual disabilities, together with their family and friends, attended the free event at Clearwater Beach. Hosted by the CIDT, the social event was not only a fun get together for all, but also allowed BHB clinicians to showcase new aquatic therapies.

“Aquatic therapy is a form of therapeutic exercise done in water,” said Chris Cunningham, CIDT clinical manager. “It is especially beneficial to those with intellectual or developmental disabilities who don’t have access to land-based activities.

“We are also exploring some new ground with the aqua therapy happening in the ocean rather than in a regular pool setting. Not everyone has access to a swimming pool, so this opens up new possibilities with the added benefit of using the beautiful and unique beaches and ocean that surround the island. This may also give us opportunities for research on using the ocean for this type of therapy.”

“Aquatic therapy is a safe and effective alternative way for our clients and others with intellectual disabilities to get vitally important physical exercise,” said Sally Teixeira, CIDT physiotherapist.

“Here in Bermuda we just love the water. We are so excited to get this new therapeutic option started and to see the benefits for clients who utilise it,” she added.

The Exceptional Fall BBQ Celebration was the second social event the CIDT held this year. In June, to mark the first anniversary of the formation of the team, they held A Fete of Exceptionalities at the Warwick Parish Council Field.

Feedback from attendees there resulted in this second event.

“A Fete of Exceptionalities and Exceptional Fall BBQ Celebration are part of a series our Community Intellectual Disability Team has created, focusing on public engagement that highlights our goal of social inclusion for everyone,” said MWI Clinical Director of Intellectual Disability Morrisa Rogers.

2 October 2022 Home Page, News

Pink lights at KEMH for breast cancer awareness

Friday 30 September 2022: The main entrance of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital will be bathed in a soft pink light every night during the month of October. The light is to remind the public to manage their breast health and to highlight breast cancer awareness.

Last year Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) upgraded its 2D mammography unit to a 3D unit. The GE Pristina machine produces significantly clearer images. Research has shown that more cancers are detected with 3D mammography than with 2D.

BHB also has an automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) unit that can soon be used as an adjunct to the mammogram service, for people with dense breast tissue. Research shows that using the ABUS increases by 35.7 percent, the potential to find cancers that would not have been found with mammography alone.

Physician referrals are not required for mammograms at BHB. Members of the public 40 and over are advised to have a scan annually. Those who have a family history of breast cancer can contact the BHB mammography unit directly on 239- 1223 for advice on when they should be scanned.

30 September 2022 Home Page, News

Community Intellectual Disability Team to host Exceptional Fall event

Thursday 29 September 2022: Bermuda Hospitals Board’s Community Intellectual Disability Team (CIDT) will be hosting Exceptional Fall BBQ Celebration on Saturday 1 October following postponement of the Exceptional Summer BBQ Celebration, which was slated for the end of August.

“This is the second social event we’ve created this year specifically for our intellectual disability community and their families,” said Chris Cunningham, manager of CIDT. “To mark the first anniversary of our team, we held A Fete of Exceptionalities in June at the Warwick Parish Council Field. That was so well received that we decided to create another social event.”

Exceptional Fall BBQ Celebration will take place on Saturday 1 October at Clearwater Beach from 11am-2pm.

“The main objectives of these events are to provide our clients with safe space for meaningful interaction with the general community and their peers,” said Morrisa Rogers, clinical director of intellectual disability. “It’s our hope that other event organisers will, through our example, understand how to make inclusion possible for those with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. Diversity and inclusion have far reaching positive effects on all members of our community.”

29 September 2022 Home Page, News

BHB welcomes new chief hospital information officer

Tuesday 27 September 2022: Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) has appointed Keltie Jamieson as its new chief hospital information officer (CHIO). Ms Jamieson will report directly to the CEO & President, Michael Richmond, MD.Keltie Jamieson

As the CHIO, Ms Jamieson will oversee BHB’s information technology, information management and telecommunications functions and operations. In addition to leading the Information Technology Services team, Ms Jamieson will be responsible for developing and maintaining a comprehensive IT strategy that guides the organisation’s adoption and management of health IT systems, such as the electronic medical record (EMR) and health informatics.

With more than 25 years of experience implementing digital strategies and enabling change through supporting technology, Ms Jamieson most recently served as the senior advisor at Horizon Health Network in New Brunswick, Canada. In this role, she provided advisory and consultant services to the province of New Brunswick as they prepared for their clinical information system implementation. For the six years prior, Ms Jamieson was the senior director and chief information officer at Nova Scotia Health & IWK Health in Canada.

Dr Richmond comments: “We are excited to welcome Ms Jamieson as the new chief hospital information officer. Ms Jamieson joins BHB at a critical time. With the launch of our electronic medical record system in late October, her experience and knowledge will be critical as we harness this technology at BHB. The EMR is a transformational tool for our staff to improve safety, quality and efficiency, and deliver a service of which Bermuda can be truly proud.”

The CHIO position is not new to BHB, but has not been filled since the fiscal year 2014/15.

27 September 2022 Home Page, News

KEMH welcomes baby during hurricane force winds

Friday 23 September 2022: While winds from Hurricane Fiona were raging outside, Bermudian couple Kei-shea Fubler and Brandon Wilson were oblivious as they brought their first child, daughter A’riyah Justice Fubler-Wilson into the world at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

A’riyah was born at 3:17am weighing 6lbs 8oz.

Mother Kei-shea was overdue and was actually slated to be induced before news came that Hurricane Fiona would impact the island. “The doctors had rescheduled that for Monday or Tuesday,” said father Brandon, “but A’riyah decided to come naturally today. It all worked out well.”

Bermuda Hospitals Board had advised the couple to overnight in the Maternity Unit as a precaution given the late stage of the pregnancy.

“They felt that the baby could come and that it would be difficult, or near impossible for us to make it here in time,” said the father. “And that’s what happened. They gave us good advice and we are glad we took it.”

Beaming with delight, Brandon said witnessing the birth of his daughter was difficult to explain. “So many different wonderful emotions are there. I was happy, I wanted everything to go smoothly and for the birth experience to be good one and for her to be healthy. Anything can happen during delivery and I’m grateful that we had a successful delivery. It’s a blessing.”

Mother Kei-shea said:” I’m overwhelmed with joy. I brought this new life into the world. She is well and I am well. I’m blessed. And it’s such a relief that she came naturally. I was a bit scared of being induced. The nurses and the staff were there for me and for Brandon. I felt supported.”

Asked if they’d considered naming their daughter Fiona, the couple said many of their family and friends had asked the same. “We thought maybe Stormy,” said Kei-shea, but we had already agreed on A’riyah Justice and decided we were comfortable with that.”

23 September 2022 Home Page, News

BHB’s electronic medical record to go live in October

 

Tuesday 20 September 2022: Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) is pleased to provide an update to the community on its electronic medical record project, which will go live on 29 October 2022.

Since the project started in April 2021, hundreds of BHB staff have been working within dedicated work streams with our vendor, Cerner. Staff have named the new system PEARL (patient electronic & administrative records log).

When PEARL goes live, there will be one electronic record for every patient across King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute and the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre. PEARL will include medical history, test results, physician notes, and important information such as allergies, which will be available to clinicians, whichever service a patient is accessing at any time.

With all the information immediately at hand, care should be more efficient. With safety alerts built into the system, it will be safer too. PEARL will speed up access to critical data, centralise the scheduling of appointments for all BHB services and replace older paper-based processes such as referrals.

As staff members have to sign in to access PEARL, there is also greater confidentiality as the system records every person who opens a record even just to view it.

In line with plans, the patient portal will not be part of the initial go-live in October, but will be a benefit of the system and is planned for phase two of the project.

Progress on the electronic medical record implementation:

  • The design and build of PEARL, which involved frontline staff across BHB, is complete.
  • Integrated testing – in which BHB staff test the entire breadth of the system (including registration, scheduling, prescribing, referring, documenting, coding and billing) using differing patient scenarios – has been completed.
  • Organisation-wide training started in June and continued through to go-live in October. About 1,400 staff have to be trained. The training is customised for different roles and professions within BHB. It includes different ways to learn, from videos and online simulations to intensive class room training.
  • Over 200 BHB staff have been selected as PEARL experts, called super users, in each department. They will be on hand to support their colleagues in their department through and beyond go-live.

In the first two weeks after go-live on 29 October, staff will be adjusting to a new way of working so things may take a little longer than usual. Where pressure can be relieved by reducing activity for non-urgent appointments and consultations this is being planned, to avoid increasing delays or potential risks to care. This will also help ensure that emergency and urgent care continues as needed.

CEO & President, Michael Richmond, MD, explains: “While our need to implement an electronic medical record relates to the critical replacement of an old clinical system, PEARL is a true game-changer for patient care and is a major driver of our vision to pursue excellence through improvement, to make Bermuda proud. It has been a huge commitment for our staff through a very challenging period. I’m immensely proud of our progress so far, very appreciative of the hard work by staff, and very much looking forward to PEARL going live in October.”

Chief of Staff, Wesley Miller, MD, says: “BHB physicians have been part of the BHB clinical teams working with Cerner to design and build PEARL. Cerner’s Millennium product is used in hospitals across the world, so we have the benefit of starting with a system that has international standards of care and safety built in that BHB staff have helped adapt for Bermuda.”

Chief Financial Officer, Bill Shields, comments: “This is a major transformation of how BHB works and delivers care. Our focus for go-live is to have the internal system working well for staff to use. As we are working hospitals and Bermuda’s only hospitals, ensuring a smooth and safe transition is our priority. We look forward to keeping the community updated on our progress.”

Chief of Nursing, Judy Richardson, adds: “PEARL is going to be a great asset for staff. It is going to be a tool nurses can use to improve quality and safety, and the efficiencies it will bring means more of their time can be spent where it is most needed – with our patients.”

20 September 2022 Home Page, News