Cayman Islands HSA Board Chair sets the record straight

ArchiveOct 29, 2017

4 min read

Implementation of an energy management programme for phased replacement of all lighting fixtures to new and more energy efficient LED fixtures.
Commissioning an engineering study to determine optimal HVAC system for the hospital to increase technological improvements, reduce utility costs, system reliability and sustainability, and environmentally friendly best practices.
Implement a staff development plan to determine appropriate staffing levels for all areas of the hospital operations to reduce high levels of overtime expenditure.
Review of all areas of the hospital operations to determine opportunities for partnerships with the private sector to achieve greater efficiencies and cost reduction.
Introduction of an employee wellness program to improve employee health and wellness and incentivize employees to pursue healthy activities whilst reducing staff healthcare costs.
Introduction of an employee health clinic.
International Accreditation: Pursuit of Joint Commission International accreditation to measure and certify the HSA's clinical quality against international standards and implement robust external oversight of key clinical quality goals and performance.
Improved Patient Engagement: Implementation of a Patient & Family Advisory Committee with representation from a broad cross-section of the community to provide advice, feedback and external review of patient processes to continuously enhance the patient experience at all HSA facilities.
Enhancing the patient experience: Recruitment of additional Patient Experience staff to proactively address patient concerns, provide support to patients and families with navigating the hospital system, coordinate appointments, and serve as patient advocates.
Improvements to Accident & Emergency: Addition of two clinical consult rooms to increase patient throughput to the emergency room and reduce waiting times.
Expansion of Clinical Services: Addition and expansion of clinical services to meet the growing healthcare needs of the community, including addition of a dedicated Cardiology Department.
Increase patient access: Expansion of clinical services including extended operating hours for acute care clinic, expansion of pediatric and women's health services through creation of a dedicated Women & Child Health Center. Providing more convenience to patients via online appointment bookings.

Review of statistics for the Acute Care Clinic (ACC) pilot project for the month of August 2017 shows that 1,402 walk-in patients were seen at the GT-GP Clinic; this represents a 5% increase when compared with June 2017, and a 20% increase when compared with August 2016.
As anticipated, this initiative is reducing the waiting time for patients without an appointment. The average waiting time at the ACC from registration until seen by the physician is 15 minutes less than July 2017 (1.23 hours). The current waiting time continues to be significantly less than the previously reported waiting time of 2.5 - 3 hours for "walk-in" patients to be seen at the HSA.
Increase public engagement, information and education: Undertake a series of quarterly community town hall meetings to improve interaction with the community, information sharing and education. These efforts will be further enhanced through increased media, communications and marketing initiatives.
CayHealth Programme: Expansion of the CayHealth Programme to include civil servants and other targeted population groups as a critical strategy to improve population health outcomes, and reduce the levels of chronic non-communicable diseases.
A review of clinical data shows that the CayHealth Programme is achieving its original goals:
Strengthening the Cancer Registry: Update legislation to strengthen the cancer registry and voluntary registration of cancer patients to improve data collection, guide policy development, determine clinical services, treatment and interventions, and improve health outcomes.
The Registry has increased its pool of voluntary enrollees of cancer survivors by a monthly average of 50 percent since the start of 2017, moving the Registry one step closer in its efforts to better understanding cancer and developing strategies to mitigate its risks in the Cayman Islands. This increase in registration has given the Registry an excellent start to the year with 340 people currently registered.
IMPROVED DATA CAPTURE AND REPORTING

Implementation and enhancement of health information data systems to ensure accurate and adequate capture of health data to better inform health policy development and implementation, trend population health statistics and reporting, and quantitatively measure health outcomes against international benchmarks and World Health Organization's health development goals and measurements.
INVESTING IN FUTURE HEALTHCARE LEADERS

Expansion of training and development opportunities for young Caymanians to pursue careers in health through increasing available spots in the Student Summer Internship Programme, collaboration with stakeholders on scholarship opportunities for advanced specialist training, increasing available opportunities for physician internship and training, as well as enhancing our capabilities as a teaching institution for students in the nursing programme at the University College of the Cayman Islands and clinicians at the University of the West Indies.
EXPANDING CARE IN THE SISTER ISLANDS
INCREASE PUBLIC AWARENESS

Published October 29, 2017