Brant Community Healthcare System Receives Panel’s Report

For Immediate Release

May 7, 2024

Brantford, ON – The Brant Community Healthcare System (BCHS) has recently received an Independent Assessment Committee (IAC) report as it relates to nursing concerns in the Brantford General Hospital (BGH) Emergency Department (ED).

The IAC report is a result of the three-day hearing in March 2024, that was completed under the Provincial Collective Agreement between BCHS and the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA). The IAC consisted of a panel of three independent Registered Nurse (RN) experts who assessed and analyzed the professional responsibility and workload issues raised by ED nurses at BGH. The report was released May 5, 2024.

This process started a few years ago, and since that time, BCHS leadership has worked with the ED nurses and implemented several strategies to resolve many of the concerns. Specifically, through conversations with ED nurses and ONA, 33 recommendations were generated and BCHS resolved 32, or 97%, of them. Based on those earlier results, we are confident that we will continue to address challenges related to staff safety and patient care. The one outstanding recommendation regarding staffing was addressed at the IAC review.

The IAC report provided specific recommendations across six key areas, including:

Staffing,
Skill Mix/Novice Staffing + Education,
Processes,
Environment,
Leadership, and
Healthy Work Environment.

Of the recommendations that the IAC provided, 62 of the 101 recommendations, or 61%, are in progress. The remaining recommendations will be discussed and reviewed in detail. The IAC report recognized the efforts of the work underway by BCHS and encouraged the hospital to continue in these efforts.

Specifically, within the staffing section, there were four position recommendations, of which three are net new and one which is already in place. Other key items highlighted in the IAC report acknowledged that the current ED clinical managers provide open communications and transformational leadership, and several of the environmental issues are being addressed through the current renovations.

BCHS leadership has worked with the ED nurses and implemented several strategies to resolve many of the concerns, including, but not limited to:

Adding a variety of interprofessional positions, including nursing, over the past four years, (April 2020 through March 2024) at a cost of $3.1 million annually,
Implementing 24/7 security coverage in the ED,
Investing over $1 million in the past five years on vital equipment required in ED,
Providing financial support for mandatory nurse training and professional development from 2022 onwards,
Introducing new programs for recruitment and career growth for nursing staff (Nursing Graduate Guarantee Program, The Community Commitment Nursing Program, The Supervised Practice Experience Program, Clinical Externs Program, Clinical Scholar Program),
Working with Ontario Health to participate in the Virtual Emergency Department Nursing Onboarding Program, and
Undertaking a $32.5 million renovation to the ED.

These strategies and investments have seen tangible improvements including:

Dramatic decrease in ED RN staff turnover rate, with it falling over the past three fiscal years from 38.1% to only 9.13% in the 2023/2024 fiscal year, well below the 12% target.
Reduced shift RN vacancy rate over the past six months, notably the day shifts vacancy was 5.6% and that was even lower on the night shifts with a 4.3% vacancy rate. The highest vacancy rate during this period was 10% for one month and the lowest was 0%, no vacancies.

“We know that the staff who work in our emergency department face incredible pressures, are required to make timely and critical decisions, and deal with traumatic situations on a daily basis. The ED relies on an interprofessional team and our community partners to deliver care and work effectively. The environment is busy, complex, challenging and pressure packed,” said Beth Morris, Interim Chief Nursing Officer.

She noted that the hospital’s administrative leaders have confidence in the ED leadership team as they continue to be supportive of the nurses and the entire unit to address concerns and issues to improve their work environment.

“We would like to thank our nurses, the IAC and ONA for the opportunity to address these concerns,” said Morris. “The BCHS leadership team remains committed to navigating these challenges and working collaboratively with our nursing staff to provide high-quality care to our patients.”

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Attachment: Working Together to Support Our Emergency Department (ED) Nurses

Media Contact:

Alena Lukich

Vice President Strategy, Quality, Risk & Communications

Alena.lukich@bchsys.org

519-751-5544 ext. 4927