Western Hospital using innovative approach to reduce emergency department wait times

ALBERTON, PE, March 5, 2020 /CNW/ - Residents of West Prince now have faster access to emergency department (ED) care at Western Hospital with an innovative, on-line technology.

Michelle Coughlin and her daughter, Ava, are seen by Dr. Gregg Meikle, a Maple Emergency Room Physician, as part of the new ED Decanting program at Western Hospital in Alberton, PEI. (CNW Group/Maple.)

Team members from Maple, Western Hospital and Health PEI on the first day of the ED Decanting program. (CNW Group/Maple.)

The creative approach to care provides patients with non-critical needs, who meet a certain criteria, the option to immediately connect with a doctor by video rather than waiting to see the ED doctor on site during emergency department hours. During the video consultation, nurses and other medical staff are on hand at Western Hospital to take the patient's vitals, facilitate examination and testing or provide medications as needed.

"The award-winning virtual care model at Western Hospital is an excellent example of using new, innovative technology to reduce wait times and enhance rural health care  for Islanders," said Health and Wellness Minister James Aylward. "Given the success we've seen so far we're looking at expanding this model to Kings County Memorial Hospital to improve emergency department access for people and benefit communities in that area of the province as well."

This model for ED care at Western Hospital is being offered as a pilot program and was developed collaboratively by Heath PEI and Maple, a Canadian virtual care provider.

"The response from our patients has been incredible and overwhelmingly positive", said, community hospitals west administrator Paul Young. "We are so excited to have partnered with Maple to create this innovative model that can help effectively reduce wait times for our patients, support the workload of our ED physician and help provide more stable, quality services to our patients."

"We count ourselves very lucky to have found a health system whose bold vision for Canadian healthcare matches ours," said Dr. Brett Belchetz, a practicing emergency department physician and the CEO and Co-founder of Maple. "While Maple has demonstrated the potential of online health care for more than four years now — many days seeing more patients than the three busiest EDs in the country combined — we've made some of our most exciting strides alongside the teams at Western Hospital and Health PEI, who have enthusiastically embraced technological solutions that will drive innovation forward for the entire country."   

"I am very pleased to see this efficient approach to ED care at Western Hospital in addition to the other great supports such as the tele-rounding initiative to provide the best care possible to patients, said Minister Aylward. "This model also allows Western Hospital to offer some urgent care services to people even during times when physicians cannot be on-site at the hospital emergency department which is helping to enhance rural health overall."   

About Maple
Maple is a technology platform that tackles some of the world's most meaningful issues in healthcare, starting with timely and convenient access to doctors and other healthcare providers. It allows patients to connect directly with doctors for medical care in minutes from their smartphone or computer 24/7, and also provides custom technological solutions for hospitals looking to advance their delivery of care. Learn more at getmaple.ca.

SOURCE Maple Corporation

Katie MacKay, Director, Marketing Communications, Maple, [email protected]