Joseph Brant Hospital Statement – Response to The Burlington Post

May 30, 2019

Joseph Brant Hospital Statement – Response to The Burlington Post

Dear Editor,

RE: Joseph Brant Hospital develops plan to combat bedsore problem (May 25)

Thank you for helping inform your readers of the Pressure Ulcers Action Plan that we are implementing at Joseph Brant Hospital.

However, with respect to a comment in the story from a third party who has no direct knowledge of recent events, for them to suggest that hospital staff may be criminally negligent is irresponsible and unfair. Further, the suggestion that Ontario nurses lack the necessary education and training to care for patients is inaccurate and disrespectful to front line health care workers, whose dedication to their patients form the cornerstone of our health care system.

It’s important for the community to know that as set out in our Pressure Ulcers Action Plan, our clinical teams conducted our latest Prevalence and Incidence Study on Friday, which involved an evaluation of each inpatient at JBH to identify any possible pressure ulcers. This will allow Joseph Brant Hospital to measure our performance using a nationally recognized standardized tool. We will be releasing the results of this review later this week.

With respect to individual cases upon which you have been reporting, our detailed review will be completed this week, and we will be meeting again with the families involved to discuss the findings directly.

In our ongoing commitment to transparency, we will continue to update the community on our Pressure Ulcers Action Plan as we move forward.

Sincerely,

Eric Vandewall                                                                        Dr. Ian Preyra

President and CEO                                                                 Chief of Staff

Joseph Brant Hospital                                                             Joseph Brant Hospital