Alexandra Hospital, Ingersoll (AHI) and Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital (TDMH) have a rich history of providing excellent, compassionate care. As small community hospitals, we pride ourselves in providing high quality and safe patient care. In order to support and sustain quality care in our communities in this complex and constrained environment, as well as meet our patients’ and their family’s expectations, AHI and TDMH defined a quality strategy in July 2018.
The purpose of this strategy was to have the vision and the platform in place to: identify clearly and visibly responsibility and accountability for quality; understand our successes and where quality can be improved; and strive for continuous quality improvement to better patient outcomes.
A great vision for change is only as good as how effectively it is communicated. To ensure that our vision is impactful, AHI and TDMH are allocating resources and time to create, define, and communicate our vision. We are pleased to introduce our ‘Quality Starts with Me” video. With this video, we feel that we have reached our goal to communicate our vision in a way in which it is powerful, understood and where our patients, their families and staff can envision the outcome. We are very grateful for those who have volunteered to be part of this special event.
Patient Safety Plan
AHI and TDMH are committed to delivering quality, innovative, and accessible care to the community in collaboration with their partners.
The 2024-2026 Patient Safety Plan aligns with our strategic direction and reflects what is important to our communities –quality and patient safety. The plan was informed by numerous stakeholders and is part of our broader quality improvement programs.
As we make progress on our current Patient Safety Plan, we will update stakeholders regularly including our Patient and Family Advisory Committee (PFAC), our Board Quality Committee and the Board of Directors. These stakeholders will also be consulted as we draft the next Patient Safety Plan.
We commit to publicly sharing our progress on our current Patient Safety Plan annually, and to sharing each new Patient Safety Plan as they are finalized (every 3 years).
Quality Improvement Plan
At AHI and TDMH, we are on a continuous journey of quality improvement. Our Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) is one of the tools we use to achieve our quality goals. This plan represents our ongoing commitment to achieve system-wide quality, and safety best practices that improve patient experiences and outcomes.
Each initiative within our QIP has identified a specific target that the hospitals plan to achieve. Targets are chosen based on a number of factors, including best available evidence, how we’ve performed in the past, or how our peers are performing (where data are available). We strive to identify targets that will motivate our teams and drive our improvement work forward, while being mindful of the common challenges to making change in a healthcare setting.
Each year, as part of the Excellent Care for All Act (2010) we publicly post our Quality Improvement Plan and submit it to the provincial government so they can track improvement performance across the system. We believe it is important for the many communities we serve across the province to see how we are meeting their needs by delivering excellent care.
By visiting the Ontario Health website, Ontarians can see how long patients are waiting for treatment in the five key services that are part of the government's Wait Time Strategy: cataract surgery, cancer surgery, hip and knee replacements, select cardiac procedures and MRI and CT scans.
Wait times are categorized on the website by procedure and hospital. This information is updated regularly.
Patient Safety Indicator Reports
(please click on the item below for more information)
There are many ways in which patients and visitors can help keep patients safe. You can be a good visitor by:
Abiding by the visiting rules. Respect visiting rules in place to allow the hospital teams to provide the care required for recovery from illness. Visiting should be limited to two visitors per patient. Congestion beyond this not only disturbs other patients in the room but also increases the safety risk of others. If you are visiting multiple patients (for instances, if you are a pastor), sanitize your hands before and after seeing each patient. Do not share the communion cup. Lay the wafer on a paper towel (not directly on the patient’s table). Visit the person in isolation last and follow the precautions specified.
Sanitizing hands before and after visiting. The hand sanitizers in patient rooms are for everyone – sanitize your hands when entering and leaving the room of the person you are visiting to avoid brining in and carrying out germs. Clean your hands after sneezing, coughing, touching your eyes, nose or mouth, after using the restroom and before and after eating and drinking. Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or your sleeve, and do not sit on patient beds or handle their equipment. Read and follow any instructions posted outside the patient’s room.
Stay home if you are sick. Do not visit the Hospital if you are sick or have had any ill symptoms within the last three days including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever (or feeling feverish), uncontrolled cough or rash.
Check first before you bring food, send flowers or take the kids. While flowers, young visitors and home-baked goodies spread cheer, they may not be allowed, so check with the nurse first. If you change the water in a vase of flowers, be sure to wash your hands afterward. Bringing food is risky because the patient may be on a special diet or the food could spoil or make the patient sick. Likewise, check with the nurse about the rules for children visiting. If you bring youngsters, don’t let them play on the floor or bed and have them wash their hands as they enter and leave the room. Make sure the child is free from symptoms of infection (e.g. runny nose, sore throat, rash, cough, etc.).
Observing/Abiding by Special Precautions. If the person you are visiting is on “Isolation Precautions”, they will have a sign outside their door by the room number. Talk to the nurse before entering the room to find out what steps you will have to take, such as wearing a mask or other protective clothing. Also ask for any educational materials that may be available.
Don’t contribute to the clutter. Limit the patient’s personal items. Less clutter eases the critical job of cleaning hospital rooms. Keep patient items off the floor and away from waste containers.
Back at home. Keep the patient healthy back at home. Follow discharge instructions and eliminate germs from the patient’s environment by using disinfectants such as sprays and wipes to clean hard surfaces often. Ask for special instructions if the patient had a drug-resistant infection such as MRSA, VRE or C. difficile.
